A new report (PDF) released August 17 documents for the first time the extent of toxic contamination from obsolete computers, televisions, and other gadgets that have been shipped overseas by U.S. recyclers. This e-waste is a toxic threat to workers and the environment in communities in China and India. U.S. experts on problems associated with toxic pollution are pointing to the research as further evidence of the need for state legislators to require manufactures to take responsibility for their products from "cradle-to-grave."
The report, conducted by Greenpeace International researchers, shows that electronic recycling activities in Guiyu Town in southern China, and in the suburbs of New Delhi, India, have caused alarmingly high levels of contamination in rivers, groundwater, and indoor dusts by toxic heavy metals and organic compounds including lead, cadmium, PCBs, PBDE (a common flame retardant), antimony, and mercury.
"Most of the computers collected for recycling here in the U.S. end up being shipped illegally to disassembly sites in China and India," said Ted Smith, Chair of the national Computer TakeBack Campaign, a coalition promoting responsible electronics recycling. "The report shows the problem is even worse than we had thought. This isn''t e-waste recycling, this is e-waste dumping."
Dust collected from the floors of the workshops that recover metals from the solder in computers found concentrations of lead that were hundreds of times higher than typical levels recorded for indoor dusts in other parts of the world. Dusts from battery dismantling workshops in Mayapuri and Buradi districts in India contained cadmium levels that were 40,000 times higher than levels typical for indoor dust samples.
"The high level of contamination caused by unsafe electronics disposal is a potentially serious threat to workers and to public health," said Dr. Arnold Schecter, of the University of Texas at Houston School of Public Health. "Both PCBs and PBDE are believed to pose serious threats to human health. Lead is highly toxic to humans, even in very small amounts, causing irreversible effects on the nervous system. Cadmium is known to cause cancer, primarily by inhaling it in dust."
"Producer Takeback" Programs Spreading
"These findings underscore the need to pass legislation in the U.S. that makes electronics producers responsible for managing their products at disposal time and bans the exporting of e-waste to developing countries," said Ted Smith. "If the producers have responsibility for their products at the end of their life, then they have an incentive to design them to be less toxic in the first place."
"Some members of the electronic industry are fighting very hard to keep electronics recycling bills from passing, "said Senator Linda Higgins, sponsor of the Minnesota bill. "While some companies, like Hewlett Packard, Target and Best Buy are embracing this concept, others are fighting it with all they have. These companies, such as IBM and many of the TV manufacturing companies, like Panasonic and Sharp, should show they can be good corporate citizens, and get on board with "producer takeback" programs."
"We need to shift the burden for e-waste recycling off our taxpayers," said Representative Mark Carron of Massachusetts, sponsor of a "producer takeback" bill currently before the Massachusetts legislature. "We have 161 cities and towns in our state who have endorsed this bill, because they currently are diverting tax money from things like education and crime prevention, to pay for e-waste recycling. We need the companies to do the right thing and get involved in solving this problem."
Iza Kruszewska, of Greenpeace International in London pointed out the double standards being used by industry leaders. "In European countries with WEEE laws in place, companies like Sony and Panasonic and Sharp are already implementing "producer takeback" programs for the products they sell in Europe and yet they are the same companies that are resisting this program in the United States."
For more information including the study and executive summary, contact information for experts, and high resolution photos of e-waste sites in China, visit: http://www.e-takeback.org/press_open/export_waste.htm
