Fire Safety Signs: Are Green Safety Signs Much Better For The Environment?

By Author: George Mitchell Sr.
Total Articles: 916
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Fire safety signs are a crucial building feature, to show occupants toward the nearest exit in an emergency. Deciding upon the proper item for the building not only saves lives and cash, this will save the environment. Non-toxic, non-hazardous, non-electrical, and recyclable photoluminescent products are the undeniable champ over electrically powered LED lighting as well as radioactive tritium.

LED (Light-Emitting Diodes)

Federal Regulations regard the back-up batteries inside quite a few LED lights containing heavy metals to be considered a universal waste. Circuit boards within LEDs are also known to be unsafe, made up of cadmium, chromium, lead, as well as mercury. These types of chemical substances are not meant for trash dumps and should be directed to a specific chemical recycler. Dangerous chemical substances are additionally utilized during manufacturing procedures. The enclosures of a lot of exit markers are PVC (poly-vinyl chloride), that is associated with chlorinated dioxins along with other extremely harmful as well as long-lived contaminants. Production of the circuit boards ...
... in addition involves eco unfavorable components, including sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, as well as methyl ethyl ketone.

Fact: Although 3-5 w for each device seems little compared to other electric driven products, it would still take nearly 5 mega-watts of electrical power to power over 100 million so-called green exit products in the United States. More than eleven thousand metric tons of carbon in greenhouse gas would likely continue to be released each year. This is barely the environmentally friendly item it claims to be when quantity is considered.

Tritium

The radioactive character of tritium helps prevent it from being used in quite a few locations. The United States Department of Defense Unified Facilities Requirements particularly prohibits the use of tritium in army facilities. Considered a risk to safety as well as liability for grade schools, universities, and business facilities, it’s no surprise that tritium is often being replaced by environmentally friendly items. The Nuclear Regulatory Agency demands owners of tritium items notify the NRC of any kind of damages or missing products. Owners must also notify the NRC when products are set to be replaced, and pay a significant charge to ship them to the atomic waste facility. For an item meant to help the protection of people, tritium misses the mark completely.

Fact: Tritium is used in fission as well as thermo-nuclear weapons to increase the amount of explosive pressure. Exports of tritium are controlled by agencies of the USA government to prevent rogue states as well as terrorists from accumulating enough to aid the development and proliferation of atomic weaponry.

Self Luminating

Glow-in-the-dark exit signs are one hundred percent recyclable and don't contain any kind of poisonous or radio-active chemicals. Requiring zero electricity to run, these safety products emit absolutely no air contamination, which makes them exceptional for the environment in addition to cost efficient for the purchaser. Other eco-friendly characteristics consist of zero wiring, batteries, or bulbs, making these types of signs uncomplicated to recycle with no fuss.

Reality: Building owners with 100 exit products can help to eliminate air pollution by nearly 500,000 lbs of Co2 and also conserve more than $3,500 per year in power expenses over the life of the product.

About Author:

While conducting research for this article, I learned about IFC compliant egress and photoluminescent signs at www.GloBriteSystem.com.