The Electronic Wasteland: How computer disposal is endangering lives

This is a tragic story from 60 Minutes about how the lives of Hong Kong workers and their unborn children, are put at risk because of money hungry "electronic waste recyclers". The US disposes of 130,000 computers a day and this could increase with more computers being produced and more being discarded. Consider that Dell alone assembles 90,000 daily.

The BBC estimates that by 2010, 100m phones and 300m personal computers will be thrown on the rubbish tip. Most of these contain a toxic cocktail of substances including:

1: Lead in cathode ray tube and solder

2: Arsenic in older cathode ray tubes
3: Selenium in circuit boards as power supply rectifier
4: Polybrominated flame retardants in plastic casings, cables and circuit boards

5: Antimony trioxide as flame retardant

6: Cadmium in circuit boards and semiconductors

7: Chromium in steel as corrosion protection

8: Cobalt in steel for structure and magnetism

9: Mercury in switches and housing

Many of these discarded waste end up in poorly run recycling programs in Hong Kong. A 2005 study by the environmental group Greenpeace found that as much as 47% of waste found at 18 European seaports was illegal, much of it toxic and headed for export.

Click the link above and watch this story from 60 Minutes. You will never look at a computer monitor in the same way.