how scared should I be of mercury lamps

[pinkbeetle]

Hello,

The DMRB I’m getting does come with a mercury lamp. However I’m a bit afraid of it, especially since I will be driving it up the east coast- plenty of bumps along the way. I’m not sure the makerspace I have my art studio would want something that can explode and give off vapor. So I’m looking at doing something like this eventually, I do have arduino/electronics skills:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/artic ... ne.0143547

Or should I save up for a commercial LED source? The DIY version is not really that cheap either, but I’m sure it’s a lot cheaper than a commercial system. Or maybe the mercury lamp is not as scary as I think? Just trying to figure out how to best do fluorescence, the scope does come with filter cubes.

[PeteM]

There are two main risks: exposure to UV light in use and shattering of the bulb . . . with a release of mercury and mercury vapor.

Unless the power supply shows a clear indication of the life left in the bulb or other reliable assurances it is near new, you might assume it's past its useful life and more likely to shatter. You could leave it behind (let the seller deal with it?) or find a waste site that will accept it before loading it into your car. Once you're settled at home, buy a new one if you decide you want to go this way. Provide the proper power, make sure UV is blocked from vision, then track the usage and handling requirements of a new lamp, and it should be reasonably safe.

Here are some suggestions if you do get breakage. The one thing in a quick skim I didn't see is the caution not to vacuum up the debris. That can vaporize more of the mercury.

http://web.path.ox.ac.uk/~bioimaging/Do ... safety.pdf

[MichaelG.]

.
.

short answer … Very

They are nasty dangerous things that are expensive to buy and don’t last long.

PeteM describes the problem well.

MichaelG.
.
Edit: __ This is a pretty good overview:
https://zeiss-campus.magnet.fsu.edu/art ... ryarc.html

[Alexander]

I am still using mercury lamps and never had any problem with them.

1. UV light from a mercury lamp isn't more dangerous than UV light from a high-power LED.
2. A technically proper setup does not carry any UV risks. A full working days scattered UV light is much less than one gets from a 10 minutes beach walk in bright sunshine. The only danger is operator stupidity.
3. Long before such a bulb explodes it becomes more and more reluctant to start. That's the indicator to replace it if your power supply has no counter.
4. Even in the unlikely case it explodes: a HBO 50 contains about 10 mg of mercury, not enough to do any harm to a human being. The real problem is the destroyed lamp housing.


But: it is common sense to find terrible dangers anywhere.

[MichaelG.]

You make a good case, Alexander … and I wish you continuing happiness

The more nervous amongst us have a tendency to find documents like this one from Zeiss:
https://www.fluorescencemicroscopes.com ... Manual.pdf

MichaelG.

[Alexander]

The more nervous amongst us have a tendency to find documents like this one from Zeiss:
https://www.fluorescencemicroscopes.com ... Manual.pdf

Even the more nervous amongst us will read in this document: "If lamps are operated properly, lamp explosion is very unlikely."


Besides that: documents like this one just carry one intention, to keep the vendor away from claims of damages.


Smartphone batteries frequently cause fire but nobody really cares. Risk is a very subjective matter.

[apochronaut]

I started wearing a tintoil hat when I eat Tuna. Then all my fillings fell out. Turns out I bought an industrial tinfoil hat, the kind that thermometer recyclers and chlor-alkali workers use : 18 gauge. You can be too cautious. All I really needed was a diy tinfoil hat made from Reynold's wrap. Developed some wisdom over that!
I drilled a hole in the end if that high end tinfoil hat and now I use it as a funnel to collect rainwater into a barrel. Can I get aluminum toxicity from that water?

[wabutter]

All comments listed are valid, One point of caution would be not to leave the lamp in the scope or lamp house durng transport. Also do not touch the envelop of the lamp. It is not glass, and the oils from your fingers will weaken the envelop during the periods of the lamp in operation. That could lead to catastrophic failure. As mentioned with healthy respect and due caustion in operation, the danger is reduced. HBO 100 have a average life of about 100 hours with a two hour burn time. Essentially it means you get about 50 start stops before you should consider replacing it. The Spectral output changes over time as does the intensity if the lamp discolors. It is recommended to change the lamp if that happens as well.

[Scarodactyl]

LED retrofits are not that difficult or expensive and don't tend to explode ever.

[MichaelG.]

.

Good-hearted jesting and cynicism aside … I suggest that 1.3 in the Zeiss instructions needs to be noted:

The lamps may be removed from the package only if the protection mask (Cat. No. 417009) and the safety gloves with artery protection (Cat. No. 417008) are worn. …

Personally, though : I couldn’t justify the running-costs even if I was comfortable with the handling arrangements.

MichaelG.

[MichaelG.]

Hello,

… So I’m looking at doing something like this eventually, I do have arduino/electronics skills:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/artic ... ne.0143547

…

Thanks for sharing that link :
I have only skimmed through the text, but I like the look of it so far.

MichaelG.

[Alexander]

Can I get aluminum toxicity from that water?

Be careful! Aluminium is suspected to cause Alzheimers's disease. That's why drinking canned beer causes strange behavior.

[erikwetterskog]

I would say that the real danger occurs when somebody has been tinkering with the system. Excitations filters, emission filters, barrier filter etc. If you have access do a digital spectrometer, you can check the UV/Vis spectrum of the emission at your various settings. This is what I did.

Also, if you like me run with a mirror cube for the HAL100, you don't want to accidentally use a mercury lamp and reflect the full Hg-spectrum to your eyes. If handled correctly and used with a proper microscope setup, and within in their specifications, the mercury burners are OK i think. Reset the counter at every lamp change, and don't run past the specified time. Also, you should not turn off the burner within 15 min of its ignition. Likewise, if you turn it off, let it cool for 15 minutes before turning it on again. In short, keep it on and use the shutter, rather than try to save lamp-time by turning it on and off several times. Use plastic gloves when handling the burner. You absolutely don't want to put fingerprints on the bulb when changing it, it drastically increases the risk of imploding the lamp.

I'm a kind of safety person, and personally appreciate the simplicity and flexibility of the the pe-300 LED source, even though the quality of light is perhaps not as good as with the original Olympus stuff (in particular the optical train).

The last thing you want is blasting high intensity UV lines in your eyes. Note that this can happen with LED as well. If in doubt, you can always just view the image digitally, and avoid the eyepieces altogether.

[Hobbyst46]

In proper use by a trained microscopist exactly according to the manufacturer's usage and safety instructions, and provided that the history of the said specific mercury illuminator is known, no need to fear IMHO.
For transportation, I would leave the lamp in the housing. Rather, inspect it visually before the ride. Pack the housing with the common shock-absorbents (bubble sheets, foam etc) since it includes fragile optical components besides the bulb. Inspect it again after the ride to verify that it is still secure in place.

...The last thing you want is blasting high intensity UV lines in your eyes. Note that this can happen with LED as well. If in doubt, you can always just view the image digitally, and avoid the eyepieces altogether....

Totally agree. During use, avoid looking directly at the beam. Especially so when aligning the lamp. Alignment is often done by directing the beam towards a white wall or other surface, away from the microscope. Then is the time to be very cautious.
The PE-300 LED works well IMHO, and is sufficiently bright for non-critically demanding microscopy. Its chief disadvantage is that it is a single wavelength source, whereas the mercury lamp produces many wavelengths, from which one can select with filters.
It opting for DIY LED lights, try to install the brightest possible LED (regardless of wavelength). 10W is not an overkill.

[Scarodactyl]

Monochrome emitters are plenty strong for brightfield fluorescence, even too strong in the blue range. Even with green (lime) which is the least efficient and thus weakest for a small emitter there was no issue on the scope I set up.