by Alecks P. Pabico

	Junked PCs and computer peripherals do not make an ordinary pile of trash. [photo by Alecks P. Pabico]

TO MANY who can afford some modern-day comforts, technological wonders like the personal computer and mobile phone have become indispensable acquisitions. Given the dizzying pace of innovations in the manufacture of high-tech devices, however, what seemed like the niftiest PC on earth becomes a technological dinosaur all too soon, sometimes in just a matter of months (or weeks in the case of cell phones). As a result, constant upgrades have become quite unavoidable, especially for certified techno junkies who cannot stand being unable to try the latest software that demand to be run only in high-end equipment. That means a lot of chucked hard disk drives, motherboards, processors, memory chips, modems, cables — fess up, you probably have a few of these stuck in a drawer somewhere, plus a dinky monitor or two taking valuable space in a cabinet.

Indeed, this rapid product obsolescence is resulting in a growing pile of electronic discards. According to a Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition study, the average lifespan of a computer has shrunk from four to five years to only two years. By the year 2005, it adds, one computer will become obsolete for every new one put on the market.

Considering how many PC units get shipped worldwide annually — which IT consulting firm Gartner reports has already reached 67.3 million in just the first half of the year (a return to double-digit growth for the industry in almost three years) — that amounts to tons and tons of computers being consigned to waste.

The Asia-Pacific PC market growth rate even outpaced the global industry last year, accounting for 21.7 million units. In the Philippines, shipments registered a modest 6.5 percent growth with about 265,000 new computers, bringing PC penetration in the country, the International Data Corporation says, to 1.37 million PCs by 2002.

Junked PCs and computer peripherals, however, do not make an ordinary pile of trash. Composed of more than a thousand different substances, e-waste happens to be hazardous, and can pose serious threats to people's health and environmental safety.

For starters, an average PC is made up of 13.8 pounds of plastics including polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in cablings and computer housings that can release cancer-causing dioxins and furans when burned within a certain temperature range. It also consists of an average of four to eight pounds of lead found mainly in the front glass plate and funnel of the monitor's cathode ray tube (CRT) and used as solder in printed circuit boards (PCBs). Lead's damaging effect on the central and peripheral nervous systems, blood systems, kidney and reproductive system of humans are well documented, for which its use in gasoline has been banned as early as the 1970s.

Aside from lead, PCBs contain mercury in circuits and switches, and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) — targeted for phase-out by the European Parliament between now and 2006 — to prevent fires. Mercury, known to cause damage to the human brain, kidneys and the fetus, is also used in lamps to illuminate flat panel displays and in thermostats and sensors.

Semiconductor chips and batteries contain cadmium, which also serves as plastics stabilizer for PC housings. With a half-life of 30 years, cadmium, both in elementary and compound states, is toxic and poses potential, irreversible effects on human health. It accumulates particularly in the kidneys, absorbed primarily through respiration but also taken up with food.

Computers also have traces of other, lesser-known, hazardous materials. The DNA damage-causing hexavalent chromium (chromium VI), the same wastewater toxin in the celebrated civil class-action lawsuit instigated by the investigations of Erin Brockovich, is used to protect untreated and galvanized steel plates from corrosion. Also used in the front panel of CRTs to protect users from radiation is the soft silvery-white metal barium, short-term exposure to which can cause brain swelling, muscle weakness and damage to the heart, liver, and spleen. Beryllium, a steel-grey metal found in motherboards to increase the tensile strength of connectors and at the same time maintain electrical conductivity, has recently been classified as a human carcinogen causing lung cancer.

Even the most common peripheral scrap, the printer cartridge, has carbon black, the commercial powder form of carbon in black toners that the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified as a carcinogen, possibly cancer-causing to humans.

What Your PC Contains?
based on a typical desktop computer weighing 60 lbs.

Name	Content (% of total weight)	Weight of Material (lbs.)	Recycling Efficiency (current recyclability)	Use/Location
PLASTICS*	22.9907	13.8	20%	includes organics and oxides (other than silica)
LEAD	6.2988	3.8	5%	metal joining, radiation shield/CRT, PCB
ALUMINUM	14.1723	8.5	80%	structural, conductivity/housing, CRT, PCB, connectors
GERMANIUM	0.0016	< 0.1	0%	semiconductor/PCB
GALLIUM	0.0013	< 0.1	0%	semiconductor/PCB
IRON	20.4712	12.3	80%	structural, magnetivity/(steel) housing, CRT, PCB
TIN	1.0078	0.6	70%	metal joining/PCB, CRT
COPPER	6.9287	4.2	90%	conductivity/CRT, PCB, connectors
BARIUM	0.0315	< 0.1	0%	vacuum tube/CRT
NICKEL	0.8503	0.51	80%	structural, magnetivity/(steel) housing, CRT, PCB
ZINC	2.2046	1.32	60%	battery, phosphor emitter/PCB, CRT
TANTALUM	0.0157	< 0.1	0%	capacitors/PCB, power supply
INDIUM	0.0016	< 0.1	60%	transistor, rectifiers/PCB
VANADIUM	0.0002	< 0.1	0%	red phosphor emitter/CRT
TERBIUM	< 0	< 0	0%	green phosphor activator, dopant/CRT, PCB
BERYLLIUM	0.0157	< 0.1	0%	thermal conductivity/PCB, connectors
GOLD	0.0016	< 0.1	99%	connectivity, conductivity/PCB, connectors
EUROPIUM	0.0002	< 0.1	0%	phosphor activator/PCB
TITANIUM	0.0157	< 0.1	0%	pigment, alloying agent/(aluminum) housing
RUTHENIUM	0.0016	< 0.1	80%	resistive circuit/PCB
COBALT	0.0157	< 0.1	85%	structural, magnetivity/(steel) hosuing, CRT, PCB
PALLADIUM	0.0003	< 0.1	95%	connectivity, conductivity/PCB, connectors
MANGANESE	0.0315	< 0.1	0%	structural, magnetivity/(steel) housing, CRT, PCB
SILVER	0.0189	< 0.1	98%	conductivity/PCB, connectors
ANTIMONY	0.0094	< 0.1	0%	diodes/housing, PCB, CRT
BISMUTH	0.0063	< 0.1	0%	wetting agent in thick film/PCB
CHROMIUM	0.0063	< 0.1	0%	decorative, hardener/(steel) housing
CADMIUM	0.0094	< 0.1	0%	battery, blue-green phosphor emitter/housing, PCB, CRT
SELENIUM	0.0016	0.00096	70%	rectifiers/PCB
NIOBIUM	0.0002	< 0.1	0%	welding alloy/housing
YTTRIUM	0.0002	< 0.1	0%	red phosphor emitter/CRT
RHODIUM	< 0	< 0	50%	thick film conductor/PCB
PLATINUM	< 0	< 0	95%	thick film conductor/PCB
MERCURY	0.0022	< 0.1	0%	batteries, switches/housing, PCB
ARSENIC	0.0013	< 0.1	0%	doping agents in transistors/PCB
SILICA	24.8803	15	0%	class, solid state devices/CRT, PCB

* Plastics contain polybrominated flame retardants and hundreds of additives and stabilizers not listed separately.

Sources: Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. 1996, Electronics Industry Environmental Roadmap