Besides all the toxic compounds of arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, and copper that reside in your cell phone, there are also polybrominated biphenyls used as flame retardants on everything from wires to the plastic covers. We have a nice toxic brew in our hands and pockets all day - incinerate it, or let it become landfill leachate, and we release a cacophony of carcinogenic compounds into the environment. The price for innovation is paid at both ends - one miner death per week occurred in 2011 in the tin mines of Indonesia, extracting the ore for our gadgets (deaths which do not include long-term health effects of such mining). Apple's iPhone 5 generated 62,000 pounds of plastic waste in the first weekend alone as it changed, ironically, to a smaller SIM card. It would be interesting to assess what goes into and out of the life of one phone, to understand the social and environmental footprint...
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Who is Riss?
Alan Rissberger "No one warned me that life would involve science, except my science teacher. But, of course, he's going to say that. He's got a job to protect."
- Stephen Colbert, I Am America (And So Can You) Wish List
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