Beyond the Whales: Greenpeace Looking at Lead in PCs
Published: 22 September 2006
by Mike Buetow
The study also looked at testing methodologies for verifying the presence of the substances. However, it was not Greenpeace's intent to test each product's compliance with the RoHS Directive.
Laptops studied were:
• Acer Aspire 5670 Series (5672WLMi).
• Apple MacBook Pro.
• Dell Latitude D810.
• Hewlett Packard Pavilion dv4000 Series (dv4357EA).
• Sony VAIO VGN-FJ Series (FJ180).
The organization bought the computers in Europe in March 2006.
Substances included in the study were:
• Heavy metals; lead, mercury, hexavalent chrome (chromium (VI)) and cadmium.
• Certain brominated flame retardants (BFRs); polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA).
• PVC (polyvinyl chloride).
For each laptop, approximately 40 individual materials and components were analyzed using x-ray microanalysis (EDAX) to determine the amounts of the metals and bromine in the surface layers of the materials. Subsequently, one metallic material from each laptop was analyzed for hexavalent chromium (VI), and one material showing consistently high bromine levels (the fan) was analyzed for a range of solvent extractable brominated flame retardants. In addition five (four in the case of Dell) plastic coated internal wires in each laptop were analyzed for the presence of PVC.
According to the report, the HP laptop was the only model in which lead was identified. Of the 44 materials and components tested in the model, lead was found in three materials; two samples of solder (with surface concentrations of 4.5% and 13% lead) and one internal connector, which may also have been a soldered connection (9.8% lead).
Of the other metals, chromium was identified in a number of components from all laptops; however, analysis of a single sample from each laptop did not identify the form of concern, hexavalent chromium (VI), in any model.
For all laptops, no cadmium or mercury was identified in any of the materials and components tested. For all laptops, bromine (an indicator of the possible presence of brominated compounds) was found in around a quarter of all the components and materials tested, at surface concentrations ranging from 0.19% to 9.4%.
Materials testing positive for bromine included some, but not all, circuit boards, chips, cables and wires, plastic cable connectors, insulating materials, fans, fan casings and touch mouse pads. For all laptop models, the fan used to cool the internal circuitry while the laptop is in use, yielded consistently high values for surface bromine content (between 5.3 and 7% by weight).
Of the BFRs quantified, only TBBPA and certain PBDEs were identified in any of the fans. No HBCD and no PBBs were identified in any of the samples. By far the highest levels of PBDEs were identified in the fan from the HP laptop: 1650 mg/kg (0.165% by weight) of decaBDE and 2040 mg/kg (0.204% by weight) of nonaBDEs, as well as other PBDEs, though at much lower levels. The Apple fan contained low levels of decaBDE and nonaBDEs (8.5 mg/kg and 2.1 mg/kg respectively). For the Acer fan, only decaBDE was detected, at the even lower level of 1.0 mg/kg. No PBDEs were found in the fans from the Dell and Sony models. Traces of TBBPA were found in fans from four laptops, though not the Sony model. Concentrations ranged from 7.8 mg/kg to 262 mg/kg, the highest value in the Apple laptop fan.
The EU RoHS Directive, which went into effect July 1, or three months after the PCs were purchased, sets a limit of 0.1% for all PBDEs other than decaBDE.
Greenpeace said that although its study covered a diverse range of materials, it was not feasible to test every individual material or component within each model. It is possible that untested components contain some of chemicals investigated in this study, and therefore the absence of a chemical in all samples from a laptop does not indicate that the laptop is entirely free of that chemical.
