A New Pollution

Think of your first cell phone…any idea where it is now? There is a big chance that your cell phone is in the air, water and the soil around you. Can’t comprehend this? Read on, you will...

Each year an estimated 30 lakh mobile phones are discarded in India. Almost 30,000 computers become obsolete every year from the IT industry in Bangalore alone. Millions of home appliances are thrown away annually only to be replaced by the latest and the best.

Ever wondered what happens to all these redundant electronic items? These items constitute a category known as ‘e-waste’, basically pollution generated by the technological era. Any discarded electronic equipment like computers, laptops, televisions, mobile phones, DVD players, stereos, fax machines and photocopiers are termed as electronic waste, or e-waste.

The reason for e-waste posing as an environment hazard stems from the fact that users are unaware of proper disposal techniques for the same. With people speedily replacing their electronic gadgets for better and newer technology, old devices ultimately end up in trash cans further adding to the already humongous amount of e-waste.

More than the volume, it is the components of electronic items that cause much worry on this account. Most electronic items contain hundreds of tiny components, large number of which are made up of heavy and hazardous to human health metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic. These demonstrate both occupational and environmental health threats, including toxic smoke from recycling processes and leaching from e-waste in landfill into local water tables. Wait! it does not end there.

The e-waste from developed countries is then shipped to the developing countries where it is segregated by unskilled workers ignorant of their own safety and of the environment around them. The harmful chemicals thus released by, breaking, burning and acidification of electronic items find their way into the food chain and hence threaten flaura and fauna of the location where the e-wasted is being disposed off.

For example, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs), commonly used in television and computer screens, have a high amount of carcinogens such as lead, barium, phosphor and other heavy metals. When disposed in an uncontrolled environment, without the necessary safety precautions, these can release harmful toxins in air, water and soil.

The need of the hour is proper knowledge about e-waste, information about disposal techniques and e-waste recycling centers, a vital yet quite neglected component in our society.

Sadly, recycling and management of e-waste is a grey area in India and as the volume of e-waste enhances it is only a matter of time before we start waking up to this neo- hazard. The solution lies in restraining our buying habits especially when it comes to electronic merchandise because if we buy less, we waste less.