plastic heats. Combustion is slowed as the additional bromine in the air interferes with the supply of oxygen needed to
sustain fire.
Brominated flame retardants have become ubiquitous in the environment; they are found at high levels in a wide range of
living organisms, from harbor seals in San Francisco Bay, to Arctic polar bears, to the breast milk of humans in the United
States.
75
PBDEs bioaccumulate in fatty tissues; they are recognized as toxic and carcinogenic and are described as
endocrine disrupters.
76
The E.U. and the states of Washington and California have banned the manufacture, distribution, or
processing of goods with PBDEs.
The Global E-Waste Crisis
The global tide of toxic electronic waste (e-waste) is an
escalating environmental and health disaster, especially for
countries in Asia, West Africa, and Latin America where e-
waste is often shipped for cheap recycling.
According to EPA estimates, in 2005 more than 2.6 million tons
of e-waste were generated in the U.S., and that flood of waste
is expected to increase dramatically with the nationwide switch
from analog to digital TV in February 2009.
In 2005, only 12.5 percent of that 2.6 million tons was collected
for recycling. The remainder—more than 87 percent—was
disposed of, largely in U.S. landfills or incinerators. The
hazardous materials in e-waste, which include lead and other
toxic heavy metals like mercury, chromium, and cadmium, can
leach out of the landfills into groundwater and streams, and the
burning of plastics can emit dioxins into the air. As of March
2008, at least ten states had passed laws banning disposal of
some electronics in landfills.
†
Some of that 12.5 percent of e-waste collected for recycling is
recycled responsibly, but an estimated 50 to 80 percent of it is
exported to developing countries where it is dismantled or
disposed of using very rudimentary and toxic technologies.
††
The imprecision of that estimate reflects the fact that it is almost
impossible to track the amount of U.S. e-waste that is shipped
overseas. The U.S. is one of only three nations (the others are
Afghanistan and Haiti) that have not ratified the Basel
Convention, an international treaty designed to stop free trade
in hazardous wastes. In addition, a significant amount of U.S. e-
waste is recycled using prison labor in this country.
†††
†
Electronics TakeBack Coalition, “E-Waste: The Exploding Global
Electronic Waste Crisis,” October 10, 2008 (Issue briefing book), p. 8,
available at
††
Ibid., p. 4.
†††
Ibid., p. 6.
