What on earth is my mobile made of?

Every phone has a rechargable battery, a Liquid crystal display screen made from mercury, transmitters created from beryllium, a vibrator produced from coltan, diodes containing antimony, circuit board solder made out of lead, arsenic-based semiconductors, bromides to help keep the device from catching fire, and a housing manufactured from PVC. These substances, if pulled apart and ingested, are exceptionally harmful. Termed persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs), the usa Environmental protection agency says that “PBTs are associated with a range of undesirable human health effects, like damage to the nervous system, reproductive system as well as developing problems, malignancy and genetic effects.�

Now, the majority of us do not plan on endeavoring to eat our mobile devices, but imagine this: five-hundred million phones decomposing inside of a land fill, abrading debris of nickel, cadmium, mercury, lead, and the rest in to the soil. These types of heavy metals leak downwards in the planet right until they get to the groundwater system, where by they feed straight into our lakes, streams, canals and drinking reservoirs. We employ that water to fish, to cultivate our plants, and to nourish our bodies. Freshwater is the source of all life on this planet, and we are toxifying it by tossing our telephones en masse carelessly into the trash.

What is more, whole village economies in the under-developed world survive by junked being melted down in the thousands for their trace valuable materials. Fire causes these toxic chemicals to get in the air and into the lungs of people who work with the mobile phones.As you would expect, life expectancy in these villages is not long.

That’s Dreadful! How Was This Allowed to Happen?

The pace of modern life is so fast, and we do not have chance to think about where anything we take for granted comes from. Every day all of us are surrounded by harmful chemicals wrapped inin plastic, which is also hazardous if dissolved or broken down. Why would anyone question anything that was so practical?

We should continue to use our mobiles, we need to educate ourselves about safe disposal of handsets. The health of the human race and of the planet is at stake.

What Should We Do?

It'sIt is vital we all recycle our mobile phones when we upgrade or perhaps when they breakl. It is such a simple action, taking at worst, ten minutes longer than throwing it away. Recycling takes many forms, giving the handset to a friend, selling it, or putting it on ebay are three examples.

The Recycle Mobile site is the number 1 site information on recycling mobile phone. It has technical details on the elements that make up a handset but also has some interesting ideas and novel ways of recycling, it even shows you ways to cash in using old phones you don’t use anymore.