Researchers who analyzed the dust accumulated inside computers and other electronic equipment are hazardous to human health, the greatest of them formed by chemical compounds used in fire prevention, for example, diphenyl ether or PBDE polibominatos.
In laboratory tests these substances have proved capable of causing neurological disorders in animals besides the risks reproduction remaining persistent in the environment and contaminating food, animals and humans.
One of the points where the highest concentrations of this dangerous substance was precisely in human milk.
The point of this research, initially performed to computers, is that such substances were found only on PCs but also on many other electronic appliances such as TVs, radios and other household equipment.
The PBDE problem came to light when companies started to increase their efforts to recycle materials used in old computers.
IBM, Dell and HP, which are the three largest computer makers in the world, offer safe ways to recycle old computers, however, the number of computers that actually enter this program is small.
Only in the United States, it is estimated that the number of computers that must be disposed next year may reach more than 200 million!
The idea is to stimulate the new computer buyers to send the old recycling program instead of leaving them to be disposed of unsafely, affecting the environment.
The manufacturers themselves are so concerned about this that own Dell has banned since 2002 the use of PBDE in their computers.
The studies on PBDEs were based on 16 dust samples taken from monitors in public places in eight states, including university laboratories, government offices, museums, etc.
Efforts are also focusing now in the sense that not only PC manufacturers so insurance recycle their products as well as all electrical and electronic manufacturers which are subject to the same problems.
A first point of concern is the effect of making the computer recycling standards (and other equipment) are accepted in all countries. Working on a new legislation should cover not only computer makers as well as the vendors themselves.
In the state of Manine, United States, for example, it is prohibited to sell any electronic product that has PBDE or other toxic substance. California also banned the use of various types of PBDE in 2003 and so on.
Finally, we must be alert to the presence of substances in electronic equipment that can be harmful to our health and alert the authorities to create legal barriers to prevent them from being used or come to us.
When the first televisions hit the market the level of X-rays emitted were extremely dangerous. Many video monitors computers of just a few decades ago as well. Barriers were created in the sense that this harmful radiation did not reach us. The same applies to magnetic fields and high frequency of many equipment.
It's time to also concern ourselves with the chemical hazards that the contact with harmful substances may pose. This is extremely important especially for our professional readers who are constantly putting their hands or breathing this toxic dust when they open a device for adjustment, repair or simply upgrade.
