Every mobile device has a NiCAD battery, a Liquid crystal display panel made from mercury, transmitters made from beryllium, a vibrator made from coltan, diodes made up of antimony, circuit board solder made out of lead, arsenic-based semiconductors, bromides to keep the phone from catching fire, as well as the housing made from PVC. These chemical substances, if pulled apart and absorbed, are extremely toxic. Also known as persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs), the usa Epa says that "PBTs tend to be linked with a variety of damaging human health effects, including damage to the central nervous system, reproductive and also developmental complications, tumors and genetic effects."

Now, most of us do not plan on trying to try to eat our cellphones, however, picture this: 5 hundred million cell phones decomposing inside of a landfill, sloughing off allergens of nickel, cadmium, mercury, lead, and the rest into the soil. Most of these heavy metals seep downward through the earth until they reach the groundwater system, where by they feed straight into our waters, streams, canals and drinking reservoirs. We utilize that water to fish, to nurture our plants, and to nourish our bodies. Fresh water is the source of all life for this planet, and now we are toxifying it by tossing our mobile phones en masse thoughtlessly into the garbage.

What's more, whole village economies in the under-developed world subsist by junked cell phones being melted down in the thousands for valuable materials. The heat causes these toxic chemicals to get in the air and also into the lungs of people that work with the mobile phones.As you would expect, life-span in these villages is not long.

That's Awful! Just how Was This Allowed to Take place?

Our lives are so rushed todaytt, because of this we do not have time to think about where things we take for granted come from or are disposed of to. Each and every day we are all surrounded by dangerous chemicals wrapped inin plastic, which itself is dangerous if melted or broken down. Why would we question anything that was so practical?

We should still use our mobiles, we have to educate ourselves about safe disposal of handsets. The health of the human race and of the planet is at stake.

What Should We Do?

It'sIt is vital and imperative we recycle our mobile handsets when we upgrade or when they breakl. It is so easy to do, it will take, at worst, five minutes longer than throwing it in the bin. Recycling can take many forms, giving the handset to a friend, selling it, or putting it on ebay are three examples.