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Essay on Computer And The Environment
Consisting of unwanted computers, monitors, televisions, and a variety of other devices, electronic waste frequently contains many toxic chemicals that when inappropriately managed may cause detrimental environmental exposure. For example, the cathode ray tube (CRT) of television sets and computer monitors contains lead. The lead levels in many CRTs exceed federal (and California) standards for hazardous waste. In a 1999 study conducted at the State University of Florida, researchers determined that color CRTs, when subjected to regulatory tests for hazardous waste, leached out 18.5 milligrams of lead per liter (Musson, Jang, Townsend & Chung, 1999), exceeding the 5 milligrams regulatory threshold for hazardous waste.
The primary concern is that if CRTs are exposed to conditions in local landfills, lead contamination of soil and groundwater may occur. Through emergency regulations finalized in February 2003, the California Environmental Protection Agency Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) placed into regulatory guidance a complete ban on municipal landfill disposal of CRTs. This ban includes agents normally excluded from regulation, such as households and exempt generators. It was determined that e-waste more appropriately belonged in a world of reduced management standards addressed by the concept of "universal waste."
Certain large-volume waste streams that technically meet the definition of hazardous waste have traditionally been disposed of in municipal landfills. These disposal sites are not designed to accept and store hazardous waste. In order to control the disposal of these wastes, on February 11, 1993, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) proposed new streamlined hazardous waste management regulations governing these materials (Standards for Universal Waste Management, 1995), which are known as universal waste. U.S. EPA believed that Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations for hazardous waste management would impede collection and recycling campaigns....
