WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?What is the problem with Mobile Phones and the Environment?
The worldwide scale of mobile phone ownership is staggering. There are more than 4 billion mobile phone users worldwide according to the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), a worldwide association of mobile operators. That figure will reach 6 billion by 2013, just 4 years from now (FM Tech 2009).
Here in Australia, Over 18 million of us use mobile phones. The lure of fashionable phones with sophisticated features have consumers demanding better, efficient phones and manufacturers are introducing new models at a staggering rate.
With such extensive mobile use, it's no wonder that between 20 and 50 million tons of electrical waste are produced each year - enough to load a train that would stretch around the world (ABS-CBNnews.com 26/06/08). Imagine the damage that electrical waste is causing to the natural environment.
The rapid growth and redundancy of mobile phones represents a major challenge to human health and the environment and something needs to be done. To discover the unseen impacts of mobile phones on the environment explore the link below.
Mobile Phones and the Environment (634.23kb)
Toxicity of Mobile Phone Components
You may not know or even think about it, but your mobile contains poisonous substances which if disposed of incorrectly, can decompose and seep into the soil and groundwater; affecting the food chain. Moreover, these chemicals can also cause you personal harm!.
Even in small amounts, hazardous chemicals inside mobile phones can cause environmental contamination because like plastic bags and Styrofoam, they cannot be easily broken down and can stay in the environment for an indefinite amount of time.
These are the substances inside your mobile and what they can initiate:
Brominated flame retardants
- Used to prevent fires occurring within mobiles yet highly flammable themselves.
- Hormone disruptors and can cause cancer and complications in pregnancy.
- Can trigger learning disabilities and behaviour problems.
- Banned substance in some European countries.
Source: Derek C. G. Muir et al, Brominated Flame Retardants in Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) from Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, East Greenland, and Svalbard, 2005 American Chemical Society
Cadmium
- Poisonous heavy metal substance known to cause lung and prostate cancer.
- Toxic to the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, respiratory, cardiovascular and hormonal systems.
- The 7th most dangerous substance known to mankind.
Lead
- Can damage almost every organ in the human body, particularly the central nervous, immune and cardiovascular system.
- Can cause decreased mental ability, developmental delays, behavioural disorders and reproductive defects.
Lithium
- Can cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs and can irritate the nose and throat.
- Dangerous when exposed to water (present in most landfills).
- Can burn creating underground fires which are difficult to extinguish.
Mercury
- Recognised developmental toxin and suspected hormone disruptor.
- Known to pollute water and accumulate in the fatty tissues of living organisms such as fish. Harmful when fish is consumed by humans.
Click on the Fact Sheet link below to learn more about mobile phones and what you can do to solve the problem.
Clean Up Mobile Phones Fact Sheet (133.86kb)
