There is considerable interest in the review of possible new substances that may fall within scope of the RoHS Directive following the review by Oko Institute.
I was talking to Dr. Paul Goodman, Senior Materials Consultant at ERA Technology, and he made an interesting point.
"The reason that environmentalists want all brominated and chlorinated flame retardants to be banned is nothing to do with their toxicity. Most are very safe and are not hazardous. However, when electrical equipment reaches end-of-life, it is recycled. If this is carried out correctly, this is quite safe and no nasty by-products are produced".
I was talking to Dr. Paul Goodman, Senior Materials Consultant at ERA Technology, and he made an interesting point.
"The reason that environmentalists want all brominated and chlorinated flame retardants to be banned is nothing to do with their toxicity. Most are very safe and are not hazardous. However, when electrical equipment reaches end-of-life, it is recycled. If this is carried out correctly, this is quite safe and no nasty by-products are produced".
"However, a considerable amount of e-waste is sent to Asia and Africa where uncontrolled "backyard" recycling is carried out. You have probably seen reports and photographs of polluted villages in China". These processes include burning the equipment and wire to recover the metals such as gold and platinum.
"Burning organochlorine and organobromine compounds in this uncontrolled way emits furans and dioxins which are very toxic and carcinogenic. Pollutants, such as cyanide, mercury and heavy metals pollute the air, land and water from these processes causing severe health problems to the local populations".
"Various organisations have been trying to stop these processes from being carried out but it still goes on"
The Basel Convention, and its amendment, reduced the shipment of e-waste to countries that didn't have the know-how or facilities to dismantle efficiently. While Europe signed up, the US has still to ratify and the opportunity to recycle a PC for $2 rather than $10 is too good to miss.
I was in India last week and they still have a National Centre for Lead Poison. According to Director Dr. Thuppil Venkatesh, the countries leading expert, "half of the children in a city like Bangalore already have levels of lead in their blood that has reduced their IQ and ability to learn. We are seeing an increase in cases now because more and more electronic waste is being handled by our people".
India is now very interested in RoHS so lets hope we see some developments in the next year or so.
Directive Decoder
"Burning organochlorine and organobromine compounds in this uncontrolled way emits furans and dioxins which are very toxic and carcinogenic. Pollutants, such as cyanide, mercury and heavy metals pollute the air, land and water from these processes causing severe health problems to the local populations".
"Various organisations have been trying to stop these processes from being carried out but it still goes on"
The Basel Convention, and its amendment, reduced the shipment of e-waste to countries that didn't have the know-how or facilities to dismantle efficiently. While Europe signed up, the US has still to ratify and the opportunity to recycle a PC for $2 rather than $10 is too good to miss.
I was in India last week and they still have a National Centre for Lead Poison. According to Director Dr. Thuppil Venkatesh, the countries leading expert, "half of the children in a city like Bangalore already have levels of lead in their blood that has reduced their IQ and ability to learn. We are seeing an increase in cases now because more and more electronic waste is being handled by our people".
India is now very interested in RoHS so lets hope we see some developments in the next year or so.
Directive Decoder
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