When will UV Bulbs be illegal to sell?

[davecich]

All,

I thought I would post this up here as I am getting conflicting information. In 2013, The USA and 130 other nations signed a ban on mercury:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_Convention_on_Mercury

Mercury is used in many things, but for our industry it is UV bulbs. We agreed to stop in 2020, and I cannot find any extensions filed by our government.

I am trying to find the exact date it will be illegal to manufacture, sell, or ship the bulbs.

I thought I would throw it up here, as this site has a wealth of information.

Dave

 

[White Haus]

I am trying to find the exact date it will be illegal to manufacture, sell, or ship the bulbs.

I'm also curious about this, but I'd be surprised if it was anytime soon. Especially considering the amount of new UV printers that are still outfitted w/ Mercury Halide bulbs vs LED. I was just speaking to our Canon/Oce rep last week and I'm pretty sure he said only one of their new models uses LED curing.

I guess this will be one more reason for everyone to move to LED, whether they want to or not.

 

[davecich]

I'm also curious about this, but I'd be surprised if it was anytime soon. Especially considering the amount of new UV printers that are still outfitted w/ Mercury Halide bulbs vs LED. I was just speaking to our Canon/Oce rep last week and I'm pretty sure he said only one of their new models uses LED curing.

I guess this will be one more reason for everyone to move to LED, whether they want to or not.

I think this maybe one of the reasons why they introduced it........

 

[White Haus]

I think this maybe one of the reasons why they introduced it........

Makes sense. I'm just surprised I've never heard of this before. You would think the push to move all new units to LED curing would be a bit faster if the manufacturers knew this was coming.

Just out of curiosity, what's the ratio of your new models that get mercury halide vs LED? Are there any advantages to mercury halide over LED, aside from not needing to reformulate inks to work with the LED wavelengths?

 

[davecich]

Makes sense. I'm just surprised I've never heard of this before. You would think the push to move all new units to LED curing would be a bit faster if the manufacturers knew this was coming.

Just out of curiosity, what's the ratio of your new models that get mercury halide vs LED? Are there any advantages to mercury halide over LED, aside from not needing to reformulate inks to work with the LED wavelengths?

I haven't offered new machines with mercury bulbs in 4 years.....

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Arizona 1300 series finally using UV LED technology going forward.

There is someone on the forum that has converted their machine to LED for around USD$10k as well.

 

[FireSprint-Mark]

All,

I thought I would post this up here as I am getting conflicting information. In 2013, The USA and 130 other nations signed a ban on mercury:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_Convention_on_Mercury

Mercury is used in many things, but for our industry it is UV bulbs. We agreed to stop in 2020, and I cannot find any extensions filed by our government.

I am trying to find the exact date it will be illegal to manufacture, sell, or ship the bulbs.

I thought I would throw it up here, as this site has a wealth of information.

Dave

https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/minamata-convention-mercury

The language here is somewhat vague....

"
The Minamata Convention requires that party nations:

• Reduce and where feasible eliminate the use and release of mercury from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM).
• Control mercury air emissions from coal-fired power plants, coal-fired industrial boilers, certain non-ferrous metals production operations, waste incineration and cement production.
• Phase-out or take measures to reduce mercury use in certain products such as batteries, switches, lights, cosmetics, pesticides and measuring devices, and create initiatives to reduce the use of mercury in dental amalgam.
• Phase out or reduce the use of mercury in manufacturing processes such as chlor-alkali production, vinyl chloride monomer production, and acetaldehyde production.
• In addition, the Convention addresses the supply and trade of mercury; safer storage and disposal, and strategies to address contaminated sites.
• The Convention includes provisions for technical assistance, information exchange, public awareness, and research and monitoring. It also requires Parties to report on measures taken to implement certain provisions. The Convention will be periodically evaluated to assess its effectiveness at meeting its objective of protecting human health and the environment from mercury pollution.

 

[davecich]

Just had this forwarded. Looks like end of 2020.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...increased-the-need-for-uv-leds-300604844.html

 

[uvgerard]

All,

I thought I would post this up here as I am getting conflicting information. In 2013, The USA and 130 other nations signed a ban on mercury:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_Convention_on_Mercury

Mercury is used in many things, but for our industry it is UV bulbs. We agreed to stop in 2020, and I cannot find any extensions filed by our government.

I am trying to find the exact date it will be illegal to manufacture, sell, or ship the bulbs.

I thought I would throw it up here, as this site has a wealth of information.

Dave

Rumors of mercury’s death are greatly exaggerated. In the light of today’s political climate, it would fall into the classification of FAKE NEWS.

Certain industries, typically ones that benefit as “alternatives” to conventional UV curing lamps put out certain buzzwords aimed at creating a sense of fear and foreboding that printers will have to get rid of their printing presses. They cite European Union RoHS 2 directive for banning hazardous waste. Only problem is it does not apply to industrial, fixed installation “tools” such as flatbed printers. These terms relate to the scope of RoHS 2. “Scope” refers to whether a device is affected by RoHS 2 restrictions or not. If a device is not in scope, it is exempted.

Outside RoHS 2’s scope is any printing equipment trucked to the customer (printer), must be assembled for installation and cannot be moved without taking it apart and repeating the process. This means conventional arc lamp UV units can continue to operate. Spare parts such as UV curing lamps are exempt.

There is far more mercury in a fluorescent tube sitting on the Home Depot shelf then in any UV curing lamp. Water purification both in USA and internationally use germicidal lamps to kill viruses and bacteria. These too contain far more mercury then a UV curing lamp.

One would need to replace 90% of all street lighting, almost all factory lighting. Televised football would be eliminated, as there would be no stadium lights.

Before you believe the “Green New Deal” is reality, think again. If you need quality, American made UV curing lamps now and after 2020, please contact us, sales@tcsuv.com

 

[davecich]

Like I said, a lot of conflicting information. Ink manufactures and LED manufactures are saying its coming, with Europe and Asia leading the way next year.

All of my bulb manufactures are saying “nothing to see here”, keep buying bulbs, build printers that use bulbs.

Gerald, thank you for your feedback. All of those items are specifically mentioned in the Minamata convention. We are NOT talking about RoHS, or its standards. That is different. Please read the whole convention. Here is the link:

http://www.mercuryconvention.org/

I am looking for some fact based clarification, or a link to the USA extension, as the document speaks for itself, which we currently are signators.

 

[uvgerard]

Makes sense. I'm just surprised I've never heard of this before. You would think the push to move all new units to LED curing would be a bit faster if the manufacturers knew this was coming.

Just out of curiosity, what's the ratio of your new models that get mercury halide vs LED? Are there any advantages to mercury halide over LED, aside from not needing to reformulate inks to work with the LED wavelengths?

Here are several pros and cons of conventional UV and LED UV curing systems.

Conventional UV

· Higher energy consumption

· Works over a wide range of inks, coating and substrates

· Offers better adhesion of inks to different substrates

· Much wider range UV output: 290 to 420 nanometers

· UV output more “forgiving” than LED

· Higher substrate heat load. This sounds bad however heat certainly helps with adhesion

· Higher printer speeds

· UV light must be shielded

· Many choices of ink, coating suppliers

· Lamp life 500 to 1000 hours

· UV lamps cost $120.00 to $220.00 each. Need to be replaced in pairs

· Lamp replacement brings system back to 100% OEM output

LED UV

· Less power consumption. One still needs to factor cooling of LED array by air or water

· Limited choice of inks, coatings and varnish

· Printer speeds tend to be lower

· Narrow UV output

· Longer LED life

· Still produces hazardous light output – unit still must be shielded

· Must purchase specialized inks formulated for LED curing.

· LED inks tend to be more expensive

· If parts of LED matrix fails, entire array must be replaced. This is very costly

· LED states long life, however LED driver can fail much earlier

· Instant on and off. No need for standby mode