Manufacturing Our Demise Environmental Impact

Manufacturing Our Demise

Environmental Impact of electronic goods

The number of devices bearing a chip internally has grown exponentially, since the early days of consumer products. These products and our associated behaviors are interwoven into the very fabric of life and culture (Kester, 1993). From state of the art hospital equipment designed to save lives, to musical equipment producing delight, electronics are everywhere. The toxicity and durability of these good compounds the problem. The manufacture and disposal of electronic equipment are a tangible and imminent danger to life, as we know it.

Nature of the danger

Electronic devices are manufactured with two major impediments; the first is designed obsolesce but physically durability. The company makes money from new models, but the replacement of the old model increases waste. Secondly, toxic chemicals are used in the production of many of these products (Turn back, 2010). Available environmentally friendly, recyclable materials increase the cost of the product. Consumers are not prepared to pay higher prices for their digital comforts and the company is not prepared to absorb the additional costs (Boyd, 2010).

These two factors driven by economics create a deluge of waste. The produced streams of waste are outstripping the ability of landfills and other waste disposal measures to keep up. Linton, Yeomans, & Yoogalingam (2002) posit that the waste from television sets alone is filling landfills. This has resulted in companies shipping waste to less developed countries resulting in the internationalization of the waste problem (Mason, 2001). Countries are literally facing the threat of being overrun by electronic waste.

The impact on the environment from electronic waste is an insidious problem (Goodwin, 2010). In developed countries most of the waste is hauled off to landfills and is invisible to the public. However, the threat from the waste in the landfill is real and disturbing. The casing of most electronic products is comprised of an enduring combination of glass, plastic and metal. The internal components are even more dangerous as the monitors and circuit boards contain heavy metals like lead and mercury (Linton, Yeomans, & Yoogalingam, 2002). Disposed batteries have a carcinogen called Cadmium. There are also a myriad of other noxious and hazardous chemicals like zinc, arsenic and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) all compounds linked to cancer and other illnesses.

Disposal and the environment

These toxic chemical can contaminate the soil, drinking water and the air. This contamination occurs through a myriad of diverse processes that are used for disposal. The burning of electronic waste in furnaces produces carbon dioxide in large quantities as well as toxic ash. The carbon dioxide adds to the problem of excess carbon in the atmosphere. The ash is often contaminated with heavy metals, because the combustion process does not destroy the heavy metals. When the ash is disposed of through dumping, the metals make contact with soil and providing another avenue for the metals to leech into the soil.

The use of landfills is another avenue for the contamination of the environment. The landfill problem is multifaceted starting with compounds that are not biodegradable. These non-biodegradable compounds will remain in the environment practically forever. Heavy metals that are in limited quantities in a single electronic device, are increased exponentially because of the millions of electronic items disposed of. These metals come into direct contact with soil and through the action of rain and acid rain dissolve into the surrounding earth. This contaminates the water table. The heavy metals move into the food chain through animals and fish. Eventually, as humans ingest the contaminated animals they begin to store heavy metals in the body.

Heavy metals are of particular interest because of the propensity for the increase in concentration in the body over time. Initial concentrations may be minute, but because the body does not adequately eliminate or metabolize these compounds, they accumulate in the tissues. This occurs until the concentrations become significant enough to interfere with the bodies functions. This is problem is exacerbated by the challenges associated with the extraction of these metals from the environment, once they have entered. These metals are very difficult and expensive to remove from contaminated areas. The troubling reality is that cleanup is never complete.

The impact on the human body is long-lasting and disastrous. High concentration of lead has been linked to damage to the central, peripheral nervous system, and the kidneys. Cadmium, which has a long half-life, and therefore is more susceptible to the accumulative effects has been shown to amass in the kidney and will ultimately produce toxic effects. Mercury becomes methylated mercury when it encounters bodies of water. Methylated mercury accumulates easily in organisms. The transfer of mercury from one organism to another also occurs by ingesting the contaminated organism. Mercury has been linked to chronic brain damage. These are only a limited sample of the compounds that damage the environment and people.

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