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CELL PHONES AND THE ENVIRONMENT!



An environmental research organization partly funded by the EPA, has estimated that cell phones are typically used only for about 10 months before being replaced. Calling plans are often packaged with free or low-cost cell phones, which often makes keeping your current phone economically disadvantageous. Becouse of that, many cell phones face their demise before they have become technologically obsolete, and the waste stream gets not only the cell phones that are truly unusable, but also those that are simply no longer the best deal for the owner.



How does this affect the environment? In addition to the volume of landfill space that cell phones could take up, they also contain toxic chemicals such as:

* arsenic (used in some semiconductors)
* brominated compounds (used as flame retardants)
* lead (used in the solder that attaches components to circuit boards)

These and other cell-phone toxins enter the environment when discarded cell phones are incinerated or when rainwater leaches the materials out of landfilled phones. Many of the toxic compounds in cell phones are found on the EPA's list of "persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals." EPA warns that these substances can cause a range of adverse human health effects, including damage to the nervous system, reproductive and developmental problems, and cancer.



I think we must take care of this situation and we have to be more concious about where our old cell phones go! Is important to keep your current phone all you can!

If not, you better call a doctor!



Franco