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Toxic chemicals found in computer hardware include lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, plastic (PVC), and barium. A computer is about 17% lead, copper, zinc, mercury, and cadmium; 23% is plastic, 14% is aluminum, and 20% is iron. Lead is found in a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, and on all of the printed circuit boards and most expansion cards. Mercury is located in the screen's fluorescent lamp, in the laser light generators in the optical disk drive, and in the round, silver batteries on the motherboard. Plastic found mostly in the housing of the computation and display circuitry. While daily end-users are not exposed to these toxic elements, the danger arises during the computer recycling process, which involves manually breaking down hardware, which leads to the exposure of a measurable amount of lead or mercury. A measurable amount of lead or mercury can easily cause serious brain damage or ruin drinking water supplies. Computer recycling is best handled by the electronic waste (e-Waste) industry, and kept segregated from the general community dump. |
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