Exporting an electronic wasteland.Much of the used computer equipment sent from the U.S. to developing countries is unusable and creates an environmental hazard 'Environmental hazard' is a generic term for any situation or state of events which poses a threat to the surrounding environment. This term incorporates topics like pollution and Natural Hazards such as storms and earthquakes. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report by the Basel Action Network (BAN), a Seattle-based environmental group. BAN says that U.S. recycling companies donate or sell old equipment to poor countries to avoid paying for proper disposal. Nigeria alone gets about 400,000 computers a month; up to 75 percent are unusable. The computers, which contain lead, mercury, and other toxic materials, wired up in landfills where they may pollute the groundwater. If the equipment is burned instead, it releases poisons into the air News & Trends was reported by Matthew Healey, Benedict Carey Benedict Carey (born 1962) is an American journalist and reporter on medical and science topics for The New York Times. Carey graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in mathematics in 1983. , Laurie J. Flynn, Laura M. Holson, Noah Robischon, and Carl Zimmer of The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times; Suzanne Bilyeu, Elizabeth Mayer, and Marie Morreale. |
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