Recycle Tritium Exit Signs

If you are a business owner or homeowner that has purchased or is planning on purchasing a tritium exit sign, you may not be aware of the involved procedure for disposing of a self-luminous sign.  You may be aware of many of the benefits of having a tritium sign, such as being maintenance-free and costing nothing in regard to energy consumption.  Tritium signs are only visible when the power goes out, yet they are still twice as bright as the minimum UL (Underwriters Limited) standards for such an exit sign.

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Call us now to recycle tritium exit signs: 800-480-0707

Understanding Tritium Exit Sign Technology

As you may have guessed, just about any manufactured exit sign that can glow without electricity contains radioactive isotopes.  Tritium is an isotope of hydrogen, but it has a very low level of radioactivity.  This is why the glow of a tritium exit sign is only visible when the power goes out.  The tritium has one fourth of the radioactivity of a standard television picture tube and works in much the same way.  The tubes that contain tritium are coated in phosphorus which causes the tubes to glow when particles are bounced around.  It is important to recycle tritium exit signs for a number of reasons.

The Importance Recycling Tritium Exit Signs

Even though the level of radioactivity of a tritium sign is very low, it is still important to recycle the sign properly.  In fact, the United States government has an entire commission dedicated to the disposal and documentation of all radioactive substances, including low level substances such as tritium.  You may not know that tritium is actually naturally occurring in the atmosphere, because it is an isotope of hydrogen.  It is lighter than air and naturally seeks a higher level than the heavier chemicals such as nitrogen and oxygen.

Recycling tritium exit signs is easy, we make the process simple and affordable.

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Even though this is the case, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission assigns a license number to every manufacturer of tritium signs.  The manufacturer is designated as the specific licensee.  They are to label each sign with a radioactive label.  They also encase the hermetically sealed glass tubes in other high impact plastic tubes and behind another layer of high impact plastic.  The tubes are mounted to the sign and are designed to be tamper and vandal resistant.  Because the tritium is further separated into individual tubes, the small amount in each tube poses even less of a threat in the unlikely even of the rupture of a tube.  

If you purchase a self luminous exit sign from a manufacturer, you are designated as the general licensee.  It is unlawful for you to remove the radioactive label or resell your exit sign without notifying the USNRC within thirty days.  If any or all of the tubes are broken, you must also notify the USNRC.  When you sign is ready to be disposed of, it cannot be placed in a common trash receptacle or taken to a landfill.  The purchaser (general licensee) must return the sign to the manufacturer (specific licensee).

Requirements for USNRC

The general licensee is then responsible to notify the USNRC within thirty days of the manufacturer, address, license, model and serial number, as well as the disposal date.  Many manufacturers state on their websites that they will take care of the paperwork that needs to be filed with the USNRC.  It is important to note, though, that on the USNRC website, it states that the general licensee (the purchaser) is responsible for providing this information to the USNRC.  As a precaution, even if your manufacturer claims they will submit the paper work, you may want to request a copy or simply submit the paperwork yourself to avoid possible legal ramifications.  More information can be found at www.usnrc.gov. 

By Jonathan Carter