Like all daily use objects, when a device is replaced, it makes its way into the dustbin, unfortunately, unlike other waste, this kind leaves behind a trail of problems and complications. Welcome to the world of e-waste.
“All electrical and electronic products that complete their useful life and can’t be used for any purpose are e-waste,” associate director of Toxics Link, an organization that has been tracing this waste for a number of years. “The problem is that e-waste has a huge amount of highly toxic constituents, and needs to be handled with a lot of care during disposal. Failure to do so creates a number of environmental and human health issues,” he adds. It’s not difficult to see why. Every computer, computing device, cell phone, or PDA contains a printed circuit board, the area where the microprocessor and all the circuits, capacitors, resistors and sensors that make it work, are placed. These components and the solder required to keep them connected, contain a plethora of human poisons. Lead, a neurotoxin, is used in the solder and CRTs; cadmium that kills the kidneys, is used in chips; mercury a metal that disrupts the brain is part of LCDs and switches; brominated flame retardant plastics that forms most of the computers body, damage the DNA.
The list goes on. Unfortunately, as Moore’s law produces faster devices every 18 months, the pile of discarded devices keeps growing, and we keep adding to the pool of mentioned substances.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
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