U.S. computer waste is poisoning Asia. (Environmental Intelligence).

Up to 80 percent of U.S. recycled computers and electronic equipment is sent to China, India, and Pakistan, where "huge quantities" of toxic components now threaten the health of workers and the environment, according to Exporting Harm, a new report by the Basel Action Network (BAN), Greenpeace China, SCOPE in Pakistan, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, and Toxics Link India.

Computer production requires use of hundreds of chemicals, many of them toxic. The average life of a computer has dropped to just two years, and electronic and computer wastes are growing faster than any other type of hazardous waste. In the United States alone, an estimated 5 to 7 million tons of electronic waste were discarded in 1998, most of it dumped in landfills or stored. An estimated 11 percent was recycled.

While exporting most types of hazardous waste violates U.S. and international law, the United States permits overseas dumping of electronic waste and the practice is growing rapidly. U.S. recyclers prefer to ship electronic waste to developing countries in Asia which have few pollution controls or health protections. The report found that the men, women, and children who are paid to disassemble the electronic waste were mostly unaware of the health and environmental risks of their labors, which include open burning of plastic casings and wires to salvage copper, acid processing of semiconductor chips to extract gold, burning soldered circuit boards, and cracking and dumping cathode ray tubes.

Europe and Japan are working to address their electronic waste problems close to home. In May 2001, the European Parliament approved a proposal requiring industries to take back electronic waste and phase out some of the most toxic chemicals. Japan approved an electric appliance recycling law which will soon include computers. Several Japanese manufacturers are now designing computers and electronics with safer materials and fewer chemicals.