Fluorescent Lights May Be Polluting Your Air! How Co-ops / Condos Can Remedy

Practical answers came out this week when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released guidance on how to reduce potential exposures to PCBs from fluorescent lighting. It's based on the latest evidence that older ballasts contain PCBs that can leak when the ballasts fail, which can pose health concerns if they persist over time — time such as, say, every day over the course of years as we walk through our lobby and hallways.

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are man-made chemicals that persist in the environment and were widely used in construction materials and electrical products prior to 1978. PCBs can affect the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system and endocrine system and are potentially cancer-causing if they build up in the body over long periods.

Why Are PCBs Even Here?

Until the late 1970s, PCBs were commonly used as insulators in electrical equipment because they have a high tolerance for heat, do not easily burn and are non-explosive. EPA banned the processing and distribution in commerce of PCBs in 1979 pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act due to their toxic effects. However, uses of older PCB-containing ballasts were allowed to continue.

As the EPA has learned more about more about the risks of PCBs, particularly in older buildings such as many New York City co-ops, the agency's guidelines evolved. In an  EPA statement, Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Steve Owens called the latest guidance on  PCB-containing light fixtures "part of EPA's ongoing efforts to protect the health of our children and provide them with safe, healthy learning environments."

With a co-op or condo built before 1979, or one that has not had a complete lighting retrofit since then, your fluorescent light ballasts probably contain PCBs. Although intact and functioning ballasts don't pose a health threat, lighting ballasts all fail in time. For that reason, the EPA recommends that older, PCB-containing lighting ballasts should be removed, whether as part of a previously scheduled lighting retrofit program or a stand-alone project.

How Toxic Is It? Just Below Hazmat

To prevent exposure if leaking ballasts are discovered, your staff or outside lighting professional should wear protective clothing, including chemically resistant gloves, boots and disposable overalls while surveying the ballasts. Replacement of leaking ballasts should be performed in a well-ventilated area, or supplemental ventilation or respiratory protection should be provided to reduce the potential for breathing in fumes.

While replacing lighting ballasts requires an upfront investment, there are state, federal and private funding programs available to potentially provide funding. In addition, replacing older ballasts with newer lighting fixtures will result in energy savings that will increase energy efficiency and likely pay for itself in fewer than seven years, depending upon hours of operation and local energy costs.

The EPA has also developed information on how to properly handle and dispose of PCB-containing fluorescent light ballasts and properly retrofit lighting fixtures to remove potential PCB hazards.The agency has a list of companies that have received a permit or approval from EPA to perform disposal. There may be other, local companies performing similar activities, since no permit or approval is needed. But with EPA-approved companies, you're at least assured that they've met an independent standard as a way of certifying the quality of their work.

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