Early this month, results were released for a study on toxic chemicals in cell phones. Of the 36 different phones tested for lead, mercury, hazardous flame retardants and more, 100 percent contained chemical hazards.
The study was conducted by the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Ecology Center (a nonprofit environmental organization that works at local, state and national levels for clean production, healthy communities, environmental justice and a sustainable future) and the San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based iFixit (a privately-owned company that aims to reduce electronic waste by selling repair parts and publishing free repair guides for consumer electronics and gadgets at www.ifixit.com).
Results were released online Oct. 3 at iFixit.com and HealthyStuff.org (a website created by the Ecology Center based on research conducted by environmental health organizations).
According to a press release issued by HealthyStuff.org that highlighted the study’s findings, “Most of the 36 cell phones analyzed were models released in the last five years. The phones tested represent 10 mobile phone manufacturers, including Apple, Hewlett-Packard Development Company, HTC Corporation, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia Corporation, Palm, Research in Motion and Samsung Electronics.
“The sample represents the largest set ever released for any electronic product. In total, 1,105 samples were analyzed for 35 different chemicals and elements. The phones were completely disassembled and interior and exterior components were tested using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF).”
Every phone sampled in the study contained at least one of the following hazardous chemicals: lead, bromine, chlorine, mercury and cadmium. “These hazardous substances can pollute throughout a product’s life cycle, including when the minerals are extracted, when they are processed, during phone manufacturing and at the end of the phone’s useful life,” the press release stated. “Emissions during disposal and recycling phones as electronic waste, or ‘e-waste,’ are particularly problematic.”
The Motorola Citrus ranked least toxic, followed by the iPhone 4 S and the LG Remarq. The new iPhone 5 ranked fifth, and its primary competitor, Samsung Galaxy S III, ranked ninth. The most toxic phone tested was the iPhone 2G from 2007. A full list of rankings can be found at HealthyStuff.org.
Bob Haskins, CEO of GigaBiter in West Norriton, a global leader in secure data destruction and environmentally responsible recycling, said that the study didn’t reveal any groundbreaking information, but it is the first he’s seen like it.
“I’ve seen a (ranking) for (toxic chemicals in) computers and other types of electronics, but this is actually the first one that I’ve seen for cell phones where (researchers) are looking at (dozens of different phones).”
The hazardous risk, however, does not lie in holding the phones themselves, he clarified.
“This study is looking at e-waste,” Haskins said. “I can attest to the lead, the mercury, the hazardous problems that (cell phones) lead to, and of course, the batteries exploding (at the end of a cell phone’s life) are an issue.
“Throwing a cell phone into the garbage is equal to throwing a (computer) monitor into the garbage. Either way, you’re looking at a lead product, and that leaching (of lead) into the water supplies and soil is absolutely a possibility of happening.”
As co-chair of the Solid State Task Force for the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID), Haskins is currently studying how information stored on solid-state electronics, like cell phones, is being destroyed, in attempt to develop a standard for what constitutes “reasonable” destruction of information on solid-state drives (SSDs).
“A lot of people are turning in cell phones, and it creates a lot of risk as far as the information on them,” he said. A major problem in this age of information, Haskins continued, is that everyone wants information at their fingertips, but the devices that store the information are not always properly destroyed.
“We (at GigaBiter) deal in two types of risk: information risk and environmental risk.” While the two types are equally important to GigaBiter, Haskins said, the risk posed by electronics being thrown into the garbage is far-reaching and great.
“Ten, 20 years from now, this is really going to come back to bite the waste industry. Tons of electronics are already being dropped into the landfills,” he said.
In the HealthyStuff.org press release, Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit is quoted as saying, “In 2009, 2.37 million tons of electronics were ready for what the Environmental Protection Agency calls ‘end-of-life management’ — code for broken, dead, outdated and unwanted devices. Of the digital castoffs, only 25 percent made it into recycling centers. We can’t allow the other 75 percent of our old electronics to become waste. All those toxins add up. E-waste is an enormous problem that can result in toxic chemicals seeping into drinking water and poisoning the environment.”
According to iFixit, Americans throw away 130 million cell phones each year, and only 8 percent are recycled properly. Trashed cell phones become e-waste that, when incinerated or placed in landfills, can lead to air and water pollution. More than half of U.S. states have no laws banning electronics disposal.
Pennsylvania became the 24th state to adopt an e-recycling program when former Gov. Ed Rendell signed House Bill 708 (the Covered Device Recycling Act) in November 2010. The state e-waste law, which took effect in January 2011, requires e-waste manufacturers to collect, transport and recycle their electronic equipment, and includes a ban on e-waste disposal in landfills, effective Jan. 23, 2013.
Haskins pointed out that while House Bill 708 holds manufacturers of televisions and computer devices responsible for establishing environmentally sound recycling programs, “cell phones are excluded from the act.”
“This creates a problem,” Haskins said, referencing the HealthyStuff.org press release, which notes that tracking e-waste is difficult, but an estimated 50 to 80 percent is exported to countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Phillipines, where there are labor-intensive, informal recycling infrastructures that often lack environmental and human health safeguards.
While all phones tested contain toxic chemicals, the study also revealed that overall product ratings have improved by 33 percent since 2007, shedding light on an “increased focus on reducing chemical hazards by the industry,” according to the HealthyStuff.org press release, which also noted that “a transition to safer alternatives is under way. Leading manufacturers, including Apple, Sony and Samsung have started the shift to safer materials and chemistries.”
Haskins said the e-waste issue is finally coming to the forefront in the U.S. and cell phone companies are manufacturing greener products as a result, but “the problem remains that some elements work better than others.”
Consumers can do their part by turning used cell phones into reputable recyclers that are “aware of the chemicals and elements inside that are hazardous,” will follow proper standards and procedures under either an e-Stewards or R2 certification (as approved by House Bill 708) — GigaBiter deals with both certification programs — and that will not resell the cell phones for reuse, Haskins said.
“Most cell phones we would be looking at smelting them and handling each one of the hazardous elements separately. There’s a proper step for all of it, including removing the battery, personal information and breaking down chemicals so that they don’t hurt the environment.”
Residents may take used cell phones and other electronics to GigaBiter, 529 Foundry Road in West Norriton, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
“We recycle anything that has a battery or a chord,” Haskins said. Electronics are accepted and recycled free of charge, but a $5 donation per item is requested for televisions and monitors only.
GigaBiter’s neighbor, the Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County ReStore, 533 Foundry Road, serves as a free electronics recycling dropoff site during regular store hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.