Gas discharge tubes

[labgirl]

Hi all,
I am new to Chemtalk and this is my first post, so I hope I am doing it the right way.
Our physics department has some very old gas discharge tubes that either don't work or are on their last legs. What is the correct way to dispose of them given one of them contains mercury? I have only been a lab assistant for a few months and am unsure of where to go to get the correct information. Thanks in advance for your help and ideas.

[Ocker]

G'Day Labgirl
Welcome to the forum.
Your query, they are much the same as Flouresent tubes (also contain small amounts of hazardous material) on the Hg one, very small amount of Hg vapour that if cracked has probably already escaped. so just send to landfill.

[smiley]

Hey LabGirl,

I'm with Ocker on this one. The tubes contain marcury gas, so the amount of actual liquid mercury is approximately half of bugger all. Landfill is fine. If you want to make them less identifiable, you can wrap them and break them with a hammer (possible therapeutic). Either way, it'll be fine.

[Ocker]

I've had second thoughts, are you certain the tubes have died or is it your high voltage power supply ( more likely to fail )

[labgirl]

Thanks Ocker,
Yes, our power supply is OK as a few of our tubes (eg neon) still work a treat in our set up.