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Americans each year discard more than 2.63 million tons of computers, cell phones, and other electronics#8212;many containing lead, mercury, cadmium, beryllium and other harmful materials. But where does it wind up?
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The following is a reprint of an Electronic TakeBack Coalition briefing book. Reprinted with permission. The full briefing book, with graphics and footnotes, is available here.
The Problem: The Looming E-Waste Tsunami
- The electronics we buy don't last very long
- Electronic equipment contains many toxic materials
- More e-waste is thrown in the trash than recycled
- Toxic components and poor design make e-waste hard to recycle
- Most recyclers export the products to developing countries with no worker safety or environmental protections
Growing Sales, Shrinking Life-Spans
The world has been dazzled by advances in the electronics industry and the amazing products we now depend on in our everyday lives. But rapid advances in technology mean that electronic products are becoming obsolete more quickly. Shorter product life-spans, coupled with explosive sales in consumer electronics, mean that more products are being disposed of, and discarded computers, TVs, and other consumer electronics (so-called e-waste) are now the fastest growing waste stream in the U.S.
The sheer volume of e-waste is a looming tsunami, already spilling over into our landfills and incinerators, with no end in sight. Local governments must spend more of their scarce tax dollars to cope with the e-waste volumes, either as trash or through municipal recycling programs.
Out With Analog, In With Digital
To make matters worse, the FCC has mandated the transition to digital television on February 17, 2009.
On that date, TV stations will stop broadcasting analog signals over the airways and switch over to digital signals. This means that millions of older TVs will no longer receive any signal, and consumers must either buy a digital set-top converter box or a brand new TV in order to get over the airways reception. Millions of old TVs will end up in the trash as consumers opt for new flat panel TVs.
E-Waste Is Toxic Waste
E-waste contains toxic materials harmful to humans and our environment. Over 1,000 materials, including chlorinated solvents, brominated flame retardants, PVC, heavy metals, plastics and gases, are used to make electronic products and their components - semiconductor chips, circuit boards, and disk drives.
CRT monitors and TVs contain between four to eight pounds of lead. As they break down in a landfill, they can leach toxic chemicals into groundwater. This has led some states to ban them from their landfills. Now with LCDs dominating the TV market, we face mercury contamination problems, since LCDs use mercury lamps to light their screens. Milligrams of mercury are used in each LCD, but it is so toxic that as little as one gram of airborne mercury deposited per year to a 20-acre lake is enough to maintain mercury contamination at a level where the fish are unsafe to eat. About 40% of the heavy metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, found in landfills come from electronic equipment discards.
Lead:
The health effects of lead are well known; lead exposure causes brain damage in children and has already been banned from many consumer products.
Mercury:
Mercury is toxic in very low doses, and causes brain and kidney damage. It can be passed on through breast milk. In a 2000 report, the National Academy of Sciences estimated that over 60,000 babies are born each year at risk for neurodevelopmental (nervous system) defects associated with high exposure to methylmercury in the womb.
Cadmium:
Cadmium is a known cancer-causing substance. It accumulates in the body and can cause kidney damage.
BFRs:
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) may seriously affect hormonal functions critical for normal development. A recent study of dust on computers in workplaces and homes found BFRs in every sample taken. One group of BFRs has been found in alarming rates in the breast milk of women in Sweden and the U.S. Incineration of plastics containing BFRs generates toxic brominated dioxins and furans.
Plastics
Plastics, including PVC, make up to 13.8 pounds of an average computer. Plastics are used in printed circuit boards, in connectors, plastic covers & cables. Hazardous chemical additives (like phthalates)can leach when PVC components of electronic products are landfilled, and burning PVC produces dioxins, a group of the most potent synthetic chemicals ever tested, which can harm the immune and reproductive systems, and some of which are known to cause cancer. The U.S. EPA estimates that levels of dioxin contamination in the general population is at or near the level at which adverse health effects can be observed in both humans and animals. PVC manufacture and disposal adds to both the phthalate and dioxin body burden in all of us.
Beryllium
Beryllium is commonly found on motherboards and connectors. Beryllium is a human carcinogen.
Next: Where Does Most Toxic E-Waste Wind Up
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