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The problem starts once it is dumped in landfills. In the landfill the CRT is broken into fragments, which makes it easy for this heavy metal to get into the environment. Lead, if ingested, can have toxic effects on the human nervous system and cause brain damage in children.
It can poison ground water, which in turn can poison plants, animals and micro-organisms.
Flame-retardants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers that are suspected carcinogens are an essential part of plastic covers, cables and connectors. Cadmium is used in resistors and semi-conductors. It is a suspected carcinogen and can be absorbed through the air and water. It can damage kidneys and cause reproductive deficiencies. Mercury is used on PCBs in electrical relays and switches and is known to cause brain damage. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers can hinder neurodevelopment, learning and memory. Hexavalent chromium is genotoxic. It can damage Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the basic genetic material. The million-dollar question is how to solve this problem? It is perhaps not easy. Governments and environmentalists are building up pressure on computer companies to take the responsibility for safe disposal of their products.
Germany, Netherlands and Norway require manufacturers to take back their products and recycle them free of charge. In Sweden you cannot simply dump discarded IT equipment. Several other European countries are working on similar statutes. In Japan the manufacturers are obliged to take back their products, though they charge a fee for it. Computer companies like Dell and Hewlett-Packard are working to bring out a completely recyclable computer. Efforts are on to develop machines that can be dismantled more easily and thus making recycling more efficient.
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Copyright
2008, Chennai Interactive
Business Services (P) Ltd. |
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According to National Safety Council of USA (NSC) more than 20 million computers are discarded in that country every year. In UK more than a million tons of electronic and electrical equipment, half of which are computers, is thrown out as junk every year. What happens to these phased out computers? A majority of them find their way to the landfills. It is estimated that by 2005 around 55 million computers will be dumped in landfills across the United States. Some of them are given back to the companies in computer exchange programmes, while some are stored in godowns, basements or closets. In some cases the phased out machines are auctioned and the buyer cannibalizes them. Some are just discarded and thrown out as junk. About 11 percent of the discarded computers are recycled.
But why this need to set the alarm bells ringing? Initially IT was considered clean, green, safe and eco-friendly industry, but the ever-growing waste is causing a major headache for governments, industry and the environmentalists. Perhaps not many of us are aware that several harmful toxic elements and chemicals go into the manufacture of various components of the PCs. When the discarded computers land up in the landfills, these toxic substances find their way into the food chain. 25 percent of each monitor of a PC by weight is the highly toxic metal - Lead. It is embedded in the glass, that constitutes the Cathode ray-tube (CRT), the basic component of the PC monitor. It shields the user from the radiations generated by the CRT. As long as the monitors are in use this lead does not pose any problem for the users. 
Lead is only one of the components of the deadly cocktail that goes into making a computer. Toxic metals like Cadmium, Selenium, Mercury, Hexavalent chromium and Beryllium are also a part of the problem.
Greater emphasis is being laid on recycling of the phased out equipments. Campaigns are being launched to educate consumers to send the discarded equipment for up gradation and donating programmes. Several countries have adopted stringent laws that take care of the manufacturing and disposal of the computers.
The European Commission is proposing to ban polybrominated diphenyl ethers and other hazardous substances used in computer manufacture from 1 July 2003. The industry has been asked to find substitutes for these substances, which include lead, cadmium and chromium. The problem may, however, have no easy solution in our country. A majority of the computers in Indian homes are from the gray market and it would be difficult to fix the onus on any one manufacturer. We need to work towards an environmentally sound electronic waste management programme. So before you plan to trash your PC, spare a thought for your environment.
