Contamination of the environment by the current disposal methods of mercury-containing lamps in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Raposo, ClaudioRoeser, Hubert Mathias Peter2015-03-242015-03-242001RAPOSO, C.; ROESER, H. M. P. Contamination of the environment by the current disposal methods of mercury-containing lamps in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Waste Managment Journal, v. 21, n.7, p. 661-670, 2001. Disponível em: <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X00001124>. Acesso em: 15 out. 2014.http://www.repositorio.ufop.br/handle/123456789/4734This survey describes the degree of environmental contamination resulting from the current disposal methods of mercury-containing lamps. The territory studied for this purpose is the federal state of Minas Gerais, one of the most populated areas in the Brazilian federation of states. The results of this survey derive in part from answers received to a questionnaire mailed out to industrial firms, commercial business enterprises, hospitals and departments of public work. The sampling technique used was a nonprobabilistic (purposive sampling). Three types of disposal were found to prevail: (1) as an addition to corporate waste disposal (garbage), (2) recycling and (3) disposal by other methods. Overall, our study shows that the majority of mercury lamps are being disposed in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, primarily by the public sector, followed by industrial, commercial and hospital sectors. Although recycling constitutes a relatively high fraction of the disposal methods, we find Federal regulations in Brazil regarding the disposal of hazardous, mercury-containing lamps to be far behind the state of technological achievement. This gap has permitted the adoption of disposal measures that are obsolete, incorrect, and a primary cause for the extensive contamination of the ecosystems with harmful effects to human health.en-USMercury-containing lampsWaste disposalRecyclingContaminationEcosystemsContamination of the environment by the current disposal methods of mercury-containing lamps in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.Artigo publicado em periodicoO periódico Waste Management concede permissão para depósito deste artigo no Repositório Institucional da UFOP. Número da licença: 3490881074895.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-053X(00)00112-4