Электронные отходы: глобальная проблема и угроза окружающей среде.

Electronic waste (or e waste) describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. It is also commonly known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or end of life (EOL) electronics. Used electronics which are destined for refurbishment, reuse, resale, salvage recycling through material recovery, or disposal are also considered e waste. Informal processing of e waste in developing countries can lead to adverse human health effects and environmental pollution. The growing consumption of electronic goods due to the Digital Revolution and innovations in science and technology, such as bitcoin, has led to a global e waste problem and hazard. The rapid exponential increase of e waste is due to frequent new model releases and unnecessary purchases of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), short innovation cycles and low recycling rates, and a drop in the average life span of computers. Electronic scrap components, such as CPUs, contain potentially harmful materials such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, or brominated flame retardants. Recycling and disposal of e waste may involve significant risk to the health of workers and their communities.

E waste is considered the "fastest growing waste stream in the world" with 44.7 million tonnes generated in 2016 equivalent to 4500 Eiffel towers. An estimated 50 million tons of e waste are produced each year. The USA discards 30 million computers each year and 100 million phones are disposed of in Europe each year. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that only 15–20% of e waste is recycled, the rest of these electronics go directly into landfills and incinerators. In 2006, the United Nations estimated the amount of worldwide electronic waste discarded each year to be 50 million metric tons. According to a report by UNEP titled, "Recycling – from e waste to Resources," the amount of e waste being produced – including mobile phones and computers – could rise by as much as 500 percent over the next decade in some countries, such as India. The United States is the world leader in producing electronic waste, tossing away about 3 million tons each year. China already produces about 10.1 million tons (2020 estimate) domestically, second only to the United States. And, despite having banned e waste imports, China remains a major e waste dumping ground for developed countries. Since the invention of the iPhone, cell phones have become the top source of e waste products Electrical waste contains hazardous but also valuable and scarce materials. Up to 60 elements can be found in complex electronics. Concentration of metals within the electronic waste is generally higher than a typical ore, such as copper, aluminium, iron, gold, silver, and palladium. As of 2013, Apple has sold over 796 million iDevices (iPod, iPhone, iPad). Cell phone companies make cell phones that are not made to last so that the consumer will purchase new phones. Companies give these products such short lifespans because they know that the consumer will want a new product and will buy it if they make it. In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfills comes from discarded electronics. While there is agreement that the number of discarded electronic devices is increasing, there is considerable disagreement about the relative risk (compared to automobile scrap, for example), and strong disagreement whether curtailing trade in used electronics will improve conditions, or make them worse. According to an article in Motherboard, attempts to restrict the trade have driven reputable companies out of the supply chain, with unintended consequences.

In 2016, Asia was the territory that had the most extensive volume of e waste (18.2 Mt), accompanied by Europe (12.3 metric tons), America (11.3 metric tons), Africa (2.2 metric tons), and Oceania (0.7 metric tons). The smallest in terms of total e waste made, Oceania was the largest generator of e waste per capita (17.3 kg/inhabitant), with hardly 6% of e waste cited to be gathered and recycled. Europe is the second broadest generator of e waste per citizen, with an average of 16.6 kg/inhabitant; however, Europe bears the loftiest assemblage figure (35%). America generates 11.6 kg/inhabitant and solicits only 17% of the e waste caused in the provinces, which is commensurate with the assortment count in Asia (15%). However, Asia generates fewer e waste per citizen (4,2 kg/inhabitant). Africa generates only 1.9 kg/inhabitant, and limited information is available on its collection percentage. The record furnishes regional breakdowns for Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. The phenomenon somewhat illustrates the modest number figure linked to the overall volume of e waste made that 41 countries have administrator e waste data. For 16 other countries, e waste volumes were collected from exploration and evaluated. The outcome of a considerable bulk of the e waste (34.1 Metric tons) is unidentified. In countries where there is no national E waste constitution in the stand, e waste is possible interpreted as an alternative or general waste. This is land filled or recycled, along with alternative metal or plastic scraps. There is the colossal compromise that the toxins are not drawn want of accordingly, or they are chosen want of by an informal sector and converted without well safeguarding the laborers while venting the contaminations in e waste. Although the e waste claim is on the rise, a flourishing quantity of countries are embracing e waste regulation. National e waste governance orders enclose 66% of the world population, a rise from 44% that was reached in 2014

In 2019, an enormous volume of e waste (53.6 Mt, with a 7.3 kg per capita average) was generated globally. This is projected to increase to 74 Mt by 2030. Asia still remains the largest contributor of a significant volume of electronic waste at 24.9 Mt, followed by the Americas (13.1 Mt), Europe (12 Mt), and Africa and Oceania at 2.9 Mt and 0.7 Mt, respectively. In per capita generation, Europe came first with 16.2 kg, and Oceania was second largest generator at 16.1 kg, and followed by the Americas. Africa is the least generator of e waste per capita at 2.5 kg. Regarding the collection and recycling of these waste, the continent of Europe ranked first (42.5%), and Asia came second (11.7%). The Americas and Oceania are next (9.4% and 8.8% respectively), and Africa trails behind at 0.9%. Out of the 53.6 Metric tons generated e waste globally, the formally documented collection and recycling was 9.3%, and the fate of 44.3% remains uncertain, with its whereabouts and impact to the environment varying across different regions of the world. However, the number of countries with national e waste legislation, regulation or policy, have increased since 2014, from 61 to 78. A great proportion of undocumented commercial and domestic waste get mixed with other streams of waste like plastic and metal waste, implying that fractions which are easily recyclable might be recycled, under conditions considered to be inferior without depollution and recovery of all materials considered valuable.

In 2021, an estimated of 57.4 Mt of e waste was generated globally. According to estimates in Europe, where the problem is best studied, 11 of 72 electronic items in an average household are no longer in use or broken. Annually per citizen, another 4 to 5 kg of unused electrical and electronic products are hoarded in Europe prior to being discarded. In 2021, less than 20 percent of the e waste is collected and recycled.

In 2022, an increase of 3.4% was estimated of the generated e waste globally, hitting 59.4Mt, which made the total unrecycled e waste on earth to 2022 is over 347 Mt. The transboundary flow of e waste has gained attention from the public due to a number of worrisome headlines, but global study on the volumes and trading routes has not yet been conducted. According to the Transboundary E waste Flows Monitor, 5.1 Mt (or slightly under 10% of the 53.6 Mt of global e waste) crossed international boundaries in 2019. This study divides transboundary movement of e waste into regulated and uncontrolled movements and takes into account both the receiving and sending regions in order to better comprehend the implications of such movement. Of the 5.1 Mt, 1.8 Mt of the transboundary movement is sent under regulated conditions, while 3.3 Mt of the transboundary movement is delivered under uncontrolled conditions because used EEE or e waste may encourage unlawful movements and provide a risk to the proper management of e waste.

The European Union (EU) has addressed the issue of electronic Waste by introducing two pieces of legislation. The first, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) came into force in 2003. The main aim of this directive was to regulate and motivate electronic waste recycling and re use in member states at that moment. It was revised in 2008, coming into force in 2014. Furthermore, the EU has also implemented the Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment from 2003. This documents was additionally revised in 2012. When it comes to Western Balkan countries, North Macedonia has adopted a Law on Batteries and Accumulators in 2010, followed by the Law on Management of electrical and electronic equipment in 2012. Serbia has regulated management of special waste stream, including electronic waste, by National waste management strategy (2010–2019). Montenegro has adopted Concessionary Act concerning electronic waste with ambition to collect 4 kg of this waste annually per person until 2020. Albanian legal framework is based on the draft act on waste from electrical and electronic equipment from 2011 which focuses on the design of electrical and electronic equipment. Contrary to this, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still missing a law regulating electronic waste. As of October 2019, 78 countries globally have established either a policy, legislation or specific regulation to govern e waste. However, there is no clear indication that countries are following the regulations. Regions such as Asia and Africa are having policies that are not legally binding and rather only programmatic ones. Hence, this poses as a challenge that e waste management policies are yet not fully developed by globally by countries.

Solving the E waste Problem is a membership organization that is part of United Nations University and was created to develop solutions to address issues associated with electronic waste. Some of the most eminent players in the fields of Production, Reuse and Recycling of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), government agencies and NGOs as well as UN Organisations count themselves among its members. StEP encourages the collaboration of all stakeholders connected with e waste, emphasizing a holistic, scientific yet applicable approach to the problem. :

One theory is that increased regulation of electronic wastes and concern over the environmental harm in nature economies creates an economic disincentive to remove residues prior to export. Critics of trade in used electronics maintain that it is still too easy for brokers calling themselves recyclers to export unscreened electronic waste to developing countries, such as China, India and parts of Africa, thus avoiding the expense of removing items like bad cathode ray tubes (the processing of which is expensive and difficult). The developing countries have become toxic dump yards of e waste. Developing countries receiving foreign e waste often go further to repair and recycle forsaken equipment. Yet still 90% of e waste ended up in landfills in developing countries in 2003. Because the United States has not ratified the Basel Convention or its Ban Amendment, and has few domestic federal laws forbidding the export of toxic waste, the Basel Action Network estimates that about 80% of the electronic waste directed to recycling in the U. S. does not get recycled there at all, but is put on container ships and sent to countries such as China.

Guiyu in the Guangdong region of China is a massive electronic waste processing community. It is often referred to as the "e waste capital of the world." Traditionally, Guiyu was an agricultural community; however, in the mid 1990s it transformed into an e waste recycling center involving over 75% of the local households and an additional 100,000 migrant workers. Thousands of individual workshops employ laborers to snip cables, pry chips from circuit boards, grind plastic computer cases into particles, and dip circuit boards in acid baths to dissolve the precious metals. Others work to strip insulation from all wiring in an attempt to salvage tiny amounts of copper wire. Uncontrolled burning, disassembly, and disposal has led to a number of environmental problems such as groundwater contamination, atmospheric pollution, and water pollution either by immediate discharge or from surface runoff (especially near coastal areas), as well as health problems including occupational safety and health effects among those directly and indirectly involved, due to the methods of processing the waste. Six of the many villages in Guiyu specialize in circuit board disassembly, seven in plastics and metals reprocessing, and two in wire and cable disassembly. Greenpeace, an environmental group, sampled dust, soil, river sediment, and groundwater in Guiyu. They found very high levels of toxic heavy metals and organic contaminants in both places. Lai Yun, a campaigner for the group found "over 10 poisonous metals, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium." Guiyu is only one example of digital dumps but similar places can be found across the world in Nigeria, Ghana, and India.

In May 2020, a scientific study was conducted in China that investigated the occurrence and distribution of traditional and novel classes of contaminants, including chlorinated, brominated, and mixed halogenated dibenzo p dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs, PBDD/Fs, PXDD/Fs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polyhalogenated carbazoles (PHCZs) in soil from an e waste disposal site in Hangzhou (which has been in operation since 2009 and has a treatment capacity of 19.6 Wt/a). While the study area has only one formal emission source, the broader industrial zone has a number of metal recovery and reprocessing plants as well as heavy traffic on adjacent motorways where normal and heavy duty devices are used. The maximum concentrations of the target halogenated organic compounds HOCs were 0.1–1.5 km away from the main source and overall detected levels of HOCs were generally lower than those reported globally. The study proved what researchers have warned, i. e. on highways with heavy traffic, especially those serving diesel powered vehicles, exhaust emissions are larger sources of dioxins than stationary sources. When assessing the environmental and health impacts of chemical compounds, especially PBDD/Fs and PXDD/Fs, the compositional complexity of soil and long period weather conditions like rain and downwind have to be taken into account. Further investigations are necessary to build up a common understanding and methods for assessing e waste impacts.

Discarded data processing equipment may still contain readable data that may be considered sensitive to the previous users of the device. A recycling plan for such equipment can support information security by ensuring proper steps are followed to erase the sensitive information. This may include such steps as re formatting of storage media and overwriting with random data to make data unrecoverable, or even physical destruction of media by shredding and incineration to ensure all data is obliterated. For example, on many operating systems deleting a file may still leave the physical data file intact on the media, allowing data retrieval by routine methods.

Recycling is an essential element of e waste management. Properly carried out, it should greatly reduce the leakage of toxic materials into the environment and militate against the exhaustion of natural resources. However, it does need to be encouraged by local authorities and through community education. Less than 20% of e waste is formally recycled, with 80% either ending up in landfill or being informally recycled – much of it by hand in developing countries, exposing workers to hazardous and carcinogenic substances such as mercury, lead and cadmium. There are generally three methods of extracting precious metals from electronic waste, namely hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical, and hydro pyrometallurgical methods. Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages together with the production of toxic waste. and some other methods are still under investigation. Properly disposing of or reusing electronics can help prevent health problems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create jobs.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency encourages electronic recyclers to become certified by demonstrating to an accredited, independent third party auditor that they meet specific standards to safely recycle and manage electronics. This should work so as to ensure the highest environmental standards are being maintained. Two certifications for electronic recyclers currently exist and are endorsed by the EPA. Customers are encouraged to choose certified electronics recyclers. Responsible electronics recycling reduces environmental and human health impacts, increases the use of reusable and refurbished equipment and reduces energy use while conserving limited resources. The two EPA endorsed certification programs are Responsible Recyclers Practices (R2) and E Stewards. Certified companies ensure they are meeting strict environmental standards which maximize reuse and recycling, minimize exposure to human health or the environment, ensure safe management of materials and require destruction of all data used on electronics. Certified electronics recyclers have demonstrated through audits and other means that they continually meet specific high environmental standards and safely manage used electronics. Once certified, the recycler is held to the particular standard by continual oversight by the independent accredited certifying body. A certification board accredits and oversees certifying bodies to ensure that they meet specific responsibilities and are competent to audit and provide certification. Some U. S. retailers offer opportunities for consumer recycling of discarded electronic devices. In the US, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) urges consumers to dispose properly of end of life electronics through its recycling locator. This list only includes manufacturer and retailer programs that use the strictest standards and third party certified recycling locations, to provide consumers assurance that their products will be recycled safely and responsibly. CEA research has found that 58 percent of consumers know where to take their end of life electronics, and the electronics industry would very much like to see that level of awareness increase. Consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers sponsor or operate more than 5,000 recycling locations nationwide and have vowed to recycle one billion pounds annually by 2016, a sharp increase from 300 million pounds industry recycled in 2010. The Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Electronic Challenge was created by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2012. Participants of the Challenge are manufacturers of electronics and electronic retailers. These companies collect end of life (EOL) electronics at various locations and send them to a certified, third party recycler. Program participants are then able publicly promote and report 100% responsible recycling for their companies. The Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETBC) is a campaign aimed at protecting human health and limiting environmental effects where electronics are being produced, used, and discarded. The ETBC aims to place responsibility for disposal of technology products on electronic manufacturers and brand owners, primarily through community promotions and legal enforcement initiatives. It provides recommendations for consumer recycling and a list of recyclers judged environmentally responsible. While there have been major benefits from the rise in recycling and waste collection created by producers and consumers, such as valuable materials being recovered and kept away from landfill and incineration, there are still many problems present with the EPR system including "how to ensure proper enforcement of recycling standards, what to do about waste with positive net value, and the role of competition," (Kunz et al.). Many stakeholders agreed there needs to be a higher standard of accountability and efficiency to improve the systems of recycling everywhere, as well as the growing amount of waste being an opportunity more so than downfall since it gives us more chances to create an efficient system. To make recycling competition more cost effective, the producers agreed that there needs to be a higher drive for competition because it allows them to have a wider range of producer responsibility organizations to choose from for e waste recycling. The Certified Electronics Recycler program for electronic recyclers is a comprehensive, integrated management system standard that incorporates key operational and continual improvement elements for quality, environmental and health and safety performance. The grassroots Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition promotes human health and addresses environmental justice problems resulting from toxins in technologies. The World Reuse, Repair, and Recycling Association (wr3a. org) is an organization dedicated to improving the quality of exported electronics, encouraging better recycling standards in importing countries, and improving practices through "Fair Trade" principles. Take Back My TV is a project of The Electronics TakeBack Coalition and grades television manufacturers to find out which are responsible, in the coalition's view, and which are not. There have also been efforts to raise awareness of the potentially hazardous conditions of the dismantling of e waste in American prisons. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, prisoner rights activists, and environmental groups released a Toxic Sweatshops report that details how prison labor is being used to handle e waste, resulting in health consequences among the workers. These groups allege that, since prisons do not have adequate safety standards, inmates are dismantling the products under unhealthy and unsafe conditions.

In many developed countries, electronic waste processing usually first involves dismantling the equipment into various parts (metal frames, power supplies, circuit boards, plastics), often by hand, but increasingly by automated shredding equipment. A typical example is the NADIN electronic waste processing plant in Novi Iskar, Bulgaria—the largest facility of its kind in Eastern Europe. The advantages of this process are the human worker's ability to recognize and save working and repairable parts, including chips, transistors, RAM, etc. The disadvantage is that the labor is cheapest in countries with the lowest health and safety standards. In an alternative bulk system, a hopper conveys material for shredding into an unsophisticated mechanical separator, with screening and granulating machines to separate constituent metal and plastic fractions, which are sold to smelters or plastics recyclers. Such recycling machinery is enclosed and employs a dust collection system. Some of the emissions are caught by scrubbers and screens. Magnets, eddy currents, and Trommel screens are employed to separate glass, plastic, and ferrous and nonferrous metals, which can then be further separated at a smelter. Copper, gold, palladium, silver and tin are valuable metals sold to smelters for recycling. Hazardous smoke and gases are captured, contained and treated to mitigate environmental threat. These methods allow for safe reclamation of all valuable computer construction materials. Hewlett Packard product recycling solutions manager Renee St. Denis describes its process as: "We move them through giant shredders about 30 feet tall and it shreds everything into pieces about the size of a quarter. Once your disk drive is shredded into pieces about this big, it's hard to get the data off". An ideal electronic waste recycling plant combines dismantling for component recovery with increased cost effective processing of bulk electronic waste. Reuse is an alternative option to recycling because it extends the lifespan of a device. Devices still need eventual recycling, but by allowing others to purchase used electronics, recycling can be postponed and value gained from device use. In early November 2021, the U. S. state of Georgia announced a joint effort with Igneo Technologies to build an $85 million large electronics recycling plant in the Port of Savannah. The project will focus on lower value, plastics heavy devices in the waste stream using multiple shredders and furnaces using pyrolysis technology.

Recycling raw materials from end of life electronics is the most effective solution to the growing e waste problem. Most electronic devices contain a variety of materials, including metals that can be recovered for future uses. By dismantling and providing reuse possibilities, intact natural resources are conserved and air and water pollution caused by hazardous disposal is avoided. Additionally, recycling reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the manufacturing of new products. Another benefit of recycling e waste is that many of the materials can be recycled and re used again. Materials that can be recycled include "ferrous (iron based) and non ferrous metals, glass, and various types of plastic." "Non ferrous metals, mainly aluminum and copper can all be re smelted and re manufactured. Ferrous metals such as steel and iron also can be re used." Due to the recent surge in popularity in 3D printing, certain 3D printers have been designed (FDM variety) to produce waste that can be easily recycled which decreases the amount of harmful pollutants in the atmosphere. The excess plastic from these printers that comes out as a byproduct can also be reused to create new 3D printed creations. Benefits of recycling are extended when responsible recycling methods are used. In the U. S., responsible recycling aims to minimize the dangers to human health and the environment that disposed and dismantled electronics can create. Responsible recycling ensures best management practices of the electronics being recycled, worker health and safety, and consideration for the environment locally and abroad. In Europe, metals that are recycled are returned to companies of origin at a reduced cost. Through a committed recycling system, manufacturers in Japan have been pushed to make their products more sustainable. Since many companies were responsible for the recycling of their own products, this imposed responsibility on manufacturers requiring many to redesign their infrastructure. As a result, manufacturers in Japan have the added option to sell the recycled metals. Improper management of e waste is resulting in a significant loss of scarce and valuable raw materials, such as gold, platinum, cobalt and rare earth elements. As much as 7% of the world's gold may currently be contained in e waste, with 100 times more gold in a tonne of e waste than in a tonne of gold ore. On the other, manufacturers in some sectors encourage a regular upgrade cycle, and may even enforce it though restricted availability of spare parts, service manuals and software updates, or through planned obsolescence. Consumer dissatisfaction with this state of affairs has led to a growing repair movement. Often, this is at a community level such as through repair cafės or the "restart parties" promoted by the Restart Project. The Right to Repair is spearheaded in the US by farmers dissatisfied with non availability of service information, specialised tools and spare parts for their high tech farm machinery. But the movement extends far beyond farm machinery with, for example, the restricted repair options offered by Apple coming in for criticism. Manufacturers often counter with safety concerns resulting from unauthorised repairs and modifications. An easy method of reducing electronic waste footprint is to sell or donate electronic gadgets, rather than dispose of them. Improperly disposed e waste is becoming more and more hazardous, especially as the sheer volume of e waste increases. For this reason, large brands like Apple, Samsung, and others have started giving options to customers to recycle old electronics. Recycling allows the expensive electronic parts inside to be reused. This may save significant energy and reduce the need for mining of additional raw resources, or manufacture of new components. Electronic recycling programs may be found locally in many areas with a simple online search; for example, by searching "recycle electronics" along with the city or area name. Cloud services have proven to be useful in storing data, which is then accessible from anywhere in the world without the need to carry storage devices. Cloud storage also allows for large storage, at low cost. This offers convenience, while reducing the need for manufacture of new storage devices, thus curbing the amount of e waste generated.

The market has a lot of different types of electrical products. To categorize these products, it is necessary to group them into sensible and practical categories. Classification of the products may even help to determine the process to be used for disposal of the product. Making the classifications, in general, is helping to describe e waste. Classifications has not defined special details, for example when they do not pose a threat to the environment. On the other hand, classifications should not be too aggregated because of countries differences in interpretation. The UNU KEYs system closely follows the harmonized statistical (HS) coding. It is an international nomenclature which is an integrated system to allow classify common basis for customs purposes. Elements found in trace amounts include americium, antimony, arsenic, barium, bismuth, boron, cobalt, europium, gallium, germanium, gold, indium, lithium, manganese, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, selenium, silver, tantalum, terbium, thorium, titanium, vanadium, and yttrium. Almost all electronics contain lead and tin (as solder) and copper (as wire and printed circuit board tracks), though the use of lead free solder is now spreading rapidly. The following are ordinary applications:

+Hazardous waste material from e wasteE waste ComponentElectric Appliances in which they are foundAdverse Health Effects Americium The radioactive source in smoke alarms. It is known to be carcinogenic. Lead Solder, CRT monitor glass, lead–acid batteries, some formulations of PVC. A typical 15 inch cathode ray tube may contain 1.5 pounds of lead, Mercury Found in fluorescent tubes (numerous applications), tilt switches (mechanical doorbells, thermostats), and ccfl backlights in flat screen monitors. Health effects include sensory impairment, dermatitis, memory loss, and muscle weakness. Exposure in utero causes fetal deficits in motor function, attention, and verbal domains. Environmental effects in animals include death, reduced fertility, and slower growth and development. Cadmium Found in light sensitive resistors, corrosion resistant alloys for marine and aviation environments, and nickel–cadmium batteries. The most common form of cadmium is found in nickel–cadmium rechargeable batteries. These batteries tend to contain between 6 and 18% cadmium. The sale of nickel–cadmium batteries has been banned in the EU except for medical use. When not properly recycled it can leach into the soil, harming microorganisms and disrupting the soil ecosystem. Exposure is caused by proximity to hazardous waste sites and factories and workers in the metal refining industry. The inhalation of cadmium can cause severe damage to the lungs and is also known to cause kidney damage. Cadmium is also associated with deficits in cognition, learning, behavior, and neuromotor skills in children. Sulfur Found in lead–acid batteries. Health effects include liver damage, kidney damage, heart damage, eye and throat irritation. When released into the environment, it can create sulfuric acid through sulfur dioxide. Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) Used as flame retardants in plastics in most electronics. Includes PBBs, PBDE, DecaBDE, OctaBDE, PentaBDE. Health effects include impaired development of the nervous system, thyroid problems, liver problems. Environmental effects: similar effects as in animals as humans. PBBs were banned from 1973 to 1977 on. PCBs were banned during the 1980s. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) Used as an antistatic additive in industrial applications and found in electronics, also found in non stick cookware (PTFE). PFOAs are formed synthetically through environmental degradation. Studies in mice have found the following health effects: Hepatotoxicity, developmental toxicity, immunotoxicity, hormonal effects and carcinogenic effects. Studies have found increased maternal PFOA levels to be associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) and stillbirth. Increased maternal levels of PFOA are also associated with decreases in mean gestational age (preterm birth), mean birth weight (low birth weight), mean birth length (small for gestational age), and mean APGAR score. Beryllium oxide Filler in some thermal interface materials such as thermal grease used on heatsinks for CPUs and power transistors, magnetrons, X ray transparent ceramic windows, heat transfer fins in vacuum tubes, and gas lasers. Occupational exposures associated with lung cancer, other common adverse health effects are beryllium sensitization, chronic beryllium disease, and acute beryllium disease. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)Commonly found in electronics and is typically used as insulation for electrical cables. In the manufacturing phase, toxic and hazardous raw material, including dioxins are released. PVC such as chlorine tend to bioaccumulate. Over time, the compounds that contain chlorine can become pollutants in the air, water, and soil. This poses a problem as human and animals can ingest them. Additionally, exposure to toxins can result in reproductive and developmental health effects.