E-SCRAP 2003: Lingering Lead Questions

Testing is just beginning, but initial results confirm that the presence of lead and other hazardous metallic elements could bring scrutiny to electronics disposal and recycling methods.

“Lead has the potential to cause a lot of electronic scrap to be [classified as] RCRA hazardous waste,” University of Florida researcher Dr. Timothy Townsend told attendees of the E-Scrap 2003 event, which took place in Orlando last week. (RCRA refers to the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.)

Determining just how toxic or hazardous the electronic scrap stream is has been the goal of a team of University of Florida researchers, led by Townsend. (Townsend’s name may be familiar to recyclers who have also followed his tests concerning chemically treated wood and its recyclability.)

The Florida research team has been conducting Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) tests on numerous different electronic items, trying to determine specifically what levels of lead are capable of leaching into the soil and groundwater if the items are buried in a landfill.

Among the team’s findings thus far:

·        Every model of laptop computer tested exceeded the minimum lead leaching standard. Townsend credited this to the lack of steel casing on laptops, which would act as a barrier to leaching.

·        Shredded central processing units (CPUs) tested below the hazardous lead standards, but 9 of 11 whole units tested exceeded the standards.

·        22 out of 33 whole cell phones tested exceeded minimal lead leaching standards.

Townsend told attendees that conducting TCLP tests on electronic scrap was challenging, as the units consist of components made from many different materials.

“Regulatory agencies will have to determine the meaning of our TCLP test results,” he remarked, adding that landfill monitoring agencies tend to watch closely for lead.