You have batteries, cell phones, chargers, filling your drawers? You know that "e-waste" should not be thrown in the trash, but do not know what to do with it?
With the project "e-waste maps", a partnership between the Department of the Environment of São Paulo and Instituto Sergio Motta, people's access to sites that collect and / or recycle "e-waste "is much easier. On the site, by entering the zip code and type "e-waste" that you must discard, you can find all the hot spots near her home that receive and recycle such electronic waste.
The idea for the project came after the realization by the state Department of Environment, Campaign Effort Electronic Waste - Recycle. Do not discard this idea. " The action, which happened on 30 October 2008, aimed to collect batteries, cell phones and chargers at over 100 collection points around the Capital and in 372 municipalities. Community participation in the joint effort exceeded expectations, more than 50 tons were collected, showing that many people did not have a place to take that kind of crap. With "e-waste maps" will be easier for people to find a proper destination for ecological and your junk mail.
"E-waste maps" platform combines Google Maps with a database of collection sites for "e-waste" in Sao Paulo. Thus, the information becomes available and can be viewed in a more functional and fun. The database project contains an initial set of collection points and has the continuous registration of new establishments. If your establishment is not participating, sign up here.
The environmental impact of hundreds of thousands of computers, cell phone batteries, countless millions of CDs and DVDs that are discarded every day is enormous. One can not deny the gains that technology and telecommunications aggregated to the society in recent decades, but we can not ignore the emergence of thinking creatively and critically about the impact of e-waste in everyday life on the planet.
The e-waste
Many people understand by the junk mail that's spam is sent to your email. But when you drop an electronic device that has no more use, you're generating an electronic waste, also known as "e-waste." These are materials such as batteries, cell phones, computers, televisions, DVD's, CD's, radios, fluorescent lamps and many others, who do not have an appropriate destination, they end up in landfill sites and contaminating soil and water, bringing harm to the environment and human health.
With the rapid modernization of technology, equipment becomes outdated at an alarming rate. In Brazil, for example, the average use of a cell is less than two years and a computer is four years in business and five years at home. The good news is that much of this waste can be reused in new equipment or recycled into other products. Just give people a destination suited to your "e-waste."
In the composition of electronic equipment are toxic substances like mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic and belírio - highly hazardous to human health. Furthermore, to produce the devices are also used chemicals flame retardants and PVC, which take centuries to decompose in the environment. In contact with air, water and soil, and direct or indirect exposure via drinking water and foods, these substances can cause nervous system disorders, kidney problems and lung cancer and other diseases ...
Dangers
Heavy metals, with high concentration in e-waste, are the property of bioaccumulation in living organisms and thus spans the entire food chain, ie, affecting the entire food chain, thus humans.
See what each of these chemicals can cause the human body:
Lead Probably the most dangerous chemical element and accumulates in bones, hair, nails, brain, liver and kidneys ; cause headaches and anemia, even at low concentrations and acts on the nervous system, renal and liver.
Cause Copper poisoning; affects the liver.
highly toxic mercury. Concentrations between 3 and 30g can be fatal to humans, it is easily absorbed through the skin and lung, has a cumulative effect, caused brain damage, has teratogenic action - malformation of fetuses during pregnancy.
Cadmium accumulates in the kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, testes and heart, cause chronic poisoning, caused decalcification of bone, kidney damage and affects the lungs; have teratogenic and carcinogenic effects.
Barium has a vasoconstrictor effect, raises blood pressure and acts on the central nervous system, cause heart problems. • Aluminum - favors the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease and has a toxic effect on plants.
Arsenic accumulates in the kidneys, liver, gastrointestinal tract, spleen, lungs, bones and nails, can cause skin cancer and lung diseases, chromosomal abnormalities, has teratogenic effect.
Chromium accumulates in the lungs, skin, muscle and adipose tissue, may cause anemia, affects the liver and kidneys, promotes the occurrence of lung cancer.
nickel has carcinogenic effect.
Zinc enters the food chain mainly affecting fish and algae.
Silver has a cumulative effect, 10 g of silver nitrate are lethal to humans
contamination in humans can occur by direct contact with the chemicals, used in the manufacture of electronic equipment. This is especially true for those handling the plates and electronic circuits without due care. This is the case of many workers who, without other sources of funds, dedicated to recovering the waste equipment to melt the plates and sell the metal.
There is also another way: with e-waste into landfills is not controlled. Toxic metals can contaminate the soil and reach the water table, affecting the quality of water supplies. If the water will be used for irrigation, livestock or the public supply, the man may be affected.
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