A poisoned atmosphere? (Letters).The question of how to dispose of To determine the fate of; to exercise the power of control over; to fix the condition, application, employment, etc. of; to direct or assign for a use. See also: Dispose obsolete electronic equipment is especially important. Environmental harm is one aspect of recycling this equipment. The more important issue is the effect on human health. The real issue is that the equipment manufacturers should provide the details of what hazardous materials are found in electronic scrap. The hazardous materials list is quite lengthy and deadly. Electronic scrap can contain the following hazardous materials: asbestos, cadmium, lead, thallium thallium (thăl`ēəm), metallic chemical element; symbol Tl; at. no. 81; at. wt. 204.383; m.p. 303.5°C;; b.p. about 1,457°C;; sp. gr. 11.85 at 20°C;; valence +1 or +3. , beryllium beryllium (bərĭl`ēəm) [from beryl ], metallic chemical element; symbol Be; at. no. 4; at. wt. 9.01218; m.p. about 1,278°C;; b.p. 2,970°C; (estimated); sp. gr. 1.85 at 20°C;; valence +2. , arsenic, gallium arsenide, antimony, bismuth, chromium, hexavalent chromium, cobalt, nickel, tin, ,selenium selenium (səlē`nēəm), nonmetallic chemical element; symbol Se; at. no. 34; at. wt. 78.96; m.p. 217°C;; b.p. about 685°C;; sp. gr. 4.81 at 20°C;; valence −2, +4, or +6. , lithium, PCBs, PCNs, radium bromide tubes, krypton krypton (krĭp`tŏn) [Gr.,=hidden], gaseous chemical element; symbol Kr; at. no. 36; at. wt. 83.80; m.p. −156.6°C;; b.p. −152.3°C;; density 3.73 grams per liter at STP; valence usually 0. tubes and zinc. All of the above hazardous materials carry very specific health consequences to the human body. The ability to diagnose and treat the related diseases is very difficult and interlocking interlocking /in·ter·lock·ing/ (-lok´ing) closely joined, as by hooks or dovetails; locking into one another. interlocking Obstetrics A rare complication of vaginal delivery of twins; the 1st due to the myriad of health hazards. So, what is the solution? 1. Manufacturers and OEMs should provide complete details and MSDS MSDS Material Safety Data Sheets, see there sheets on their products. 2. Education by recyclers on what hazards are in the scrap they receive. 3. No shredding of many types of electronic equipment. 4. Ship sorted, upgraded products only to qualified producers or refineries. "Domestic shredding" is dubious as a solution because of substances like beryllium. Beryllium, located in all types of electronic scrap, is one of the deadliest metals known to man. Beryllium causes Chronic Beryllium Disease and cancer. The allowable limit for beryllium is two parts per million parts per million mg/kg or ml/l; see ppm. (PPM). Some of the electronic components contain two percent, seven percent, 30 percent and even pure beryllium oxide. The recyclers of electronic scrap are undertaking a tremendous liability financially as well as personally. The dust and fumes from these processes do not know a laborer from management. These chemicals do not reside in the building, but can be spread by the wind and equipment. A person driving a delivery truck to the plant could come down with Chronic Beryllium Disease. Manufacturers should come clean, inform all recyclers of the hazards, and finally monitor their effectiveness. Without this direct communication, electronic recycling will continue to be hazardous to the environment and to the community. The enormous liability will continue for everyone. --Pete Oliver, Lexington, S. C. (The letter writer is among the plaintiffs in (The letter writer is among the plaintiffs in a heavy metals poisoning suit brought against a facility that formerly shredded electronic equipment.) The views expressed in the Letters section are not necessarily those of Recycling Today. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and brevity. |
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