herme3 Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 I read that the LCD screens in laptop computers contain phosphor powder, mercury, and other chemicals. What are the chances of this stuff leaking out? Do you think it could be a health or environmental hazard? Everyone thought CFCs were safe until they started leaking out of things and destroying the ozone layer. I know that phosphor powder and mercury are toxic, but what are the chances of them escaping from my computer? Would I notice if they start leaking out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevermore Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Well, mercury is a shiny silver color, and kind of hard to miss. And I believe that phosphurous glows when it contacts oxygen. On a slightly related note, holding a laptop in your lap can steralise men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herme3 Posted March 28, 2005 Author Share Posted March 28, 2005 So, what are the chances of the toxic chemicals leaking out? Does it happen quite often, or is it very rare? If for some reason anything does start leaking out, should I take it back if it is still under warranty, or will I have to put the laptop in some type of special container? Can some of these chemicals get into the air, or am I ok as long as I don't touch any of it? I haven't seen anything leaking out, I'm just wondering what I should do if it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 It is extremely rare under normal conditions... by "normal conditions" I mean if you start smashing your computer with a sledge hammer that would not be normal and could cause the chemicals to leak out! Basically your fine... it's like saying that by leaving your computer on over night a heat build up could cause a fire so never leave your computer on over night.... theoretically yes, but no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangloss Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Another way of looking at it might be to point out that it happens, in the end, with every computer, which is why recycling efforts have been particularly strident about computers. Dell has a deal where you can ship them any old computer and they'll dispose of it (look it up on their web site, it's an interesting program). The problem is that we tend to ship the problem overseas rather than actually dealing with it. The "recycled" computers tend to go to big international corporations which ship them to countries with low-wage labor (often barefoot children) who break them down in a very unsafe manner. There was a story going around a couple of years ago about Chinese children being contaminated by pollution from busted-up American computers. This has been well documented by western media but might be a little obscure to find. Run some searches on Google and mix up the keywords a good bit. In general if a US dump site is properly contained and maintained, it's not a problem, you can put ANYTHING in there. They keep those things far from ground water and actually put containment liners around them to keep that stuff from spreading. The EPA has a lot of regulations about that. I think the recycling of computers has been more or less a mixed bag -- we've ended up dumping the problem on other countries when we should have just dumped them in a landfill. But that's the politics of recycling for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herme3 Posted March 28, 2005 Author Share Posted March 28, 2005 This is interesting. I work inside computers to upgrade hard drives, and install CD Burners, and things like that. Is there any way I can be contaminated by anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 I would highly doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangloss Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Yeah, that's not really a concern. The kind of things you'd want to watch for would include: - Stepping on decayed/rusted components and/or getting otherwise punctured by them (tetanus, lead poisoning, etc) - A broken/crushed/melted components (capacitors, for example, usually have pretty toxic and corrosive substances inside, such as tantalum pentoxide, which are pretty nasty if they get ingested) - Batteries leaking fluid (same deal, and virtually every computer has at least one battery inside) In short, a fairly advanced state of decay. Your desktop computer is unlikely to be rusted out, for example. Your main concern is not being electrocuted. Make sure it's plugged into the wall, but turned off, and you'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Well, unless a capacitor decides to explode whilst you've got your head near it. But you shouldn't be putting your head inside a computer that's on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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