"Gum bleeding, skin allergies, headaches, hair loss..." Peng Zhengjia, who works in Foshan Lighting, described the health abnormalities that occurred on him. After the medical examination, he was confirmed to have exceeded the standard for urinary mercury, and he was confirmed to have exceeded the standard with other workers. And what they are in is Foshan's lighting energy-saving lamp production line, which has close contact with mercury.
After Peng Zhengjia’s affairs were reported by the media, it caused a strong social reaction. The Gaoming District Government of Foshan City immediately organized a special task force to organize medical examinations for nearly 600 employees of Foshan Lighting who were exposed to harmful jobs (liquid mercury). The test results showed that 143 people had excessive urinary mercury and 9 people were suspected of occupational chronic mercury poisoning. Subsequently, the Buddha’s photo was painful and the six liquid mercury production lines were urgently shut down for renovation. Known as the "Chinese lamp king", Foshan Lighting is still a shadow of the "urine mercury door" incident.
"Light King" is still the case, what about other companies? The occurrence of the "urine mercury door" incident can not help but make people wonder, in the tens of thousands of enterprises in the upstream and downstream of China's lighting lighting industry, what other secrets are unknown? What kind of work environment are the mechanics and general workers who are busy in the workshop all day?
Lighting companies: Mercury poisoning is an exception or normal mercury is an essential raw material in the production of energy-saving lamps. Due to the development of the industrial chain, in the lighting industry, the production of lamps (commonly known as capillary tubes) and the production of whole lamps are often carried out by different companies. The wool tube enterprise supplies the whole lamp enterprise, and the whole lamp enterprise assembles the fittings such as the capillary tube, the rectifier and the outer casing into the energy-saving lamps or lamps of the final product. The application of mercury metal is in the production of capillary tubes.
“In the early years, the production of capillary tubes was done by manual injection of mercury. Workers used syringes to manually inject liquid mercury into the tubes. Most companies now use automatic mercury injection machines. The price of such machines is not expensive, and as long as The link is well controlled, and there is generally no mercury leak." Wen Zhipeng said to the author. Wen Zhipeng owns a small-scale capillary production plant with a production capacity of 40,000 to 50,000 per day. “In the past, I heard some things about mercury poisoning in workers, but now it’s very rare.†Wen Zhipeng concluded.
In terms of the way mercury is used, there are currently two ways in the lighting industry, one is liquid mercury and the other is solid mercury. Solid mercury technology, also known as “amalgam†technology, can effectively reduce the safety hazards in the mercury process and improve the quality of energy-saving lamps. But why is liquid mercury still used? The reason is cost. Wen Zhipeng told the author that the use of solid mercury, first of all, the equipment requirements are relatively high, and the corresponding equipment in the market to sell more than 100,000. In addition, solid mercury will increase the cost of each capillary by 1-2 cents, and the larger the scale of production, the greater the cost impact.
And in the capillary production line that is in close contact with mercury, there is an unwritten rule: workers drink a bottle of pure milk every day. According to reports, milk can effectively protect the gastrointestinal mucosa from damage, so that mercury can be removed from the body. In addition, workers in the relevant production line will change their jobs in two to three months to ensure that workers will not be exposed to mercury for a long time. “In fact, the amount of mercury used in energy-saving lamps is very small, only a few milligrams per lamp. Monitoring the production equipment to ensure good ventilation in the workshop can basically prevent mercury poisoning.†Zhang Xueming, the workshop supervisor of another capillary company, told the author. "In addition to the upstream capillary production will be exposed to toxic metal mercury, the finished product production is basically no toxic substances, so the lighting industry is actually a relatively safe industry."
Lighting companies: no use of mercury, but there are a lot of heavy metal design, product details are dazzling, in the field of lighting, it is certain that there is absolutely no mercury pollution. In the finished lighting company, which is known for its design and assembly, workers have little access to toxic and hazardous materials. Their main job is to assemble the complicated components according to the designer's design. However, for the upstream suppliers of finished products, the employees of the accessory companies are not so lucky.
"You may not be accustomed to this taste, but we have not felt it for a long time." The electroplating workshop worker Xiaozhong of a lighting accessories factory in Guzhen looked at the author and frowned when he walked into the workshop, so that the author said. Xiao Zhong is a worker in this workshop. Every day, countless lighting accessories are processed under his hand and then sent to the finished factory. Although the exhaust fan in the workshop made a lot of noise, the irritating smell in the workshop was still strong. In addition to the unpleasant smell, the more terrible danger of the small clock is the chloride and heavy metals contained in the plating solution.
In the electroplating production, a large amount of chemicals such as strong acids, alkalis, salts and organic solvents are used, and a large amount of toxic and harmful gases are emitted during the operation, and the electroplating solution contains a large amount of heavy metal elements related to electroplating. Another job most frequently for lighting accessories companies is painting. Most of the paint raw materials are toxic to the body. If the operation or safety measures are improper, it is easy to cause poisoning of workers.
The lighting products industry is generally dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, and the upstream parts enterprises are smaller. There are only a few thousand large and small lighting accessories companies in the Zhongshan Guzhen, which is known as the “lighting capital of Chinaâ€. These enterprises are relatively small in scale, many of which are workshop-style enterprises. The operating environment is poor and the security protection is incomplete. "Now the accessories companies are not standardized, there are many small workshops, and some even have no relevant licenses, not to mention the requirements for a safe environment." Xiao Zhong’s leader, Zhou Guohua, director of the plating workshop of the accessories factory, told author.
The survey results: the upstream company has a more toxic working environment. With the author's investigation, the results show that the working environment of the upstream enterprises in the lighting and lighting industry is more severe. Due to the characteristics of the industry, the lighting lighting products are mainly designed and assembled, so the relevant production personnel are exposed to accessories and semi-finished products. In the upstream parts industry, production personnel are exposed to more toxic and harmful substances, and the production environment is also worse.
After the outbreak of the “Urine Mercury Gate†incident of Foshan Lighting employees, as the community focused on the incident, it also warned other companies in the industry. Corporate social responsibility is first reflected in the responsibility of employees. If employees are safe and healthy, how can they be responsible for their customers and consumers? In addition, local governments should also strengthen supervision, strictly control the safe production environment of enterprises, and provide employees with a safe and healthy working environment.
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