Fluorescent lamps are increasingly being used for general lighting due to their higher energy efficiency than incandescent lamps. However, they contain mercury, which is a high toxicity element. China is one of the largest fluorescent lamps consuming and producing country in the world and has been facing a growing concern of mercury pollution. In order to control mercury emissions from fluorescent lamps, mercury flow of fluorescent lamps in China was analyzed using material flow analysis (MFA). As results, it was estimated that the mercury contained in fluorescent lamps of the domestic production, export and import was 29.31, 12.81 and 3.95 tons, respectively. The mercury in the domestic usage was 20.45 tons, of which 3.89 tons to the incineration and 15.54 tons to the landfill at the end-of-life phase, but only 1.02 tons of mercury was recovered. The total amount of mercury emissions to the atmosphere and land was 0.78 and 18.52 tons, respectively.
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