HARMFUL EFFECTS CAUSED BY IMPROPER COMPUTER & ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

Electronic waste already constitutes 2 to 5 percent of the US municipal solid waste stream and is rising by 3 to 5 percent per year. Carnegie Mellon University has predicted that already there are 70 million computers in our landfills. The five pounds or more of lead in computer screens and TVs represents 40 percent of all the lead in US landfills.

Electronics contain lead, mercury, cadmium, and polybrominated flame retardants. And the plastic casings of these products contain polyvinyl chloride. All are persistent, bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs) that can create environmental and health risks when computers are incinerated, landfilled or melted down. These toxins can leach into groundwater and create cancer-producing dioxins when burned.

These are not insignificant amounts of toxins. The Environmental Protection Agency considers CRTs hazardous waste and says that lead can make up as much as 25% of the weight of monitors weighing anywhere from 15 to 90 pounds.

Electronic waste affects nearly every system in the human body.