Do you know what hazardous chemicals you’re throwing out when disposing of your old phone? (2024)

FAQs

Do you know what hazardous chemicals you’re throwing out when disposing of your old phone? ›

E-waste poses environmental hazards due to the toxic substances it contains, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. Dumping old mobile phones in landfills or incinerating them releases hazardous chemicals into the air, soil, and water.

Mobile phones contain harmful toxins including lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chlorine and bromine, which can leak into the groundwater and bioaccumulate in the food chain causing detrimental damage to the soil, water supply, vegetation, animals and humans.

As mentioned above, mercury is found in cell phones and is used for LCD screens. Mercury is possibly one of the most toxic chemicals to dispose of as it can contaminate the earth, water, and air if it is not disposed of correctly. The battery in a phone also contains carbon, mercury, cadmium and lithium cobalt oxide.

Look for local cell phone recycling centers near you

Local centers may offer a variety of recycling services aside from electronic waste, so it is important to explicitly ask the organization if they offer e-waste recycling. The way that e-waste is managed differs from other hazardous waste management techniques.

The Screen

Details on the elements and compounds involved in the manufacture of touch screens were the easiest to track down. These are manufactured mainly from aluminosilicate glass, a mixture of aluminium oxide and silicon dioxide, which is then placed in a hot bath of molten salt.

Some of the chemicals in electronics are toxic – substances like heavy metals, flame retardants, antistatic agents or plastic softeners, for example. But the key question is – are you exposed to them? If you use the device in the way it is intended to be used, then your exposure will be very low.

Cell phones emit low levels of non-ionizing radiation when in use. The type of radiation emitted by cell phones is also referred to as radio frequency (RF) energy. As stated by the National Cancer Institute, "there is currently no consistent evidence that non-ionizing radiation increases cancer risk in humans.

For example, the circuit boards in cell phones can contain heavy metals such as arsenic and lead in addition to the other valuable metals such as gold, copper, and platinum. The rechargeable batteries in cell phones contain lithium and cobalt which makes the cell phone batteries hazardous waste as well.

Do cell phones give off (emit) radiation? Yes – cell phones and cordless phones use radiofrequency radiation (RF) to send signals. RF is different from other types of radiation (like x-rays) that we know can be harmful. We don't know for sure if RF radiation from cell phones can cause health problems years later.

The EPA estimates that 350,000 phones are thrown out each day! Old electronics don't belong in the trash can. If not disposed of properly, these items can be dangerous. Many contain lithium batteries, which are fragile and can start fires when tossed around in a trash or recycling truck.

What does Verizon do with old phones? ›

Trade-in your phone, tablet, smartwatch or other device now. Learn about trading in your mobile devices to Verizon in exchange for account credit, instant credit or Verizon Gift Cards. Even if your devices have no value, we can recycle them responsibly for you, for free.

Cell phones, laptops, or any kinds of notification discharge a chemical into the user's brain and called as “dopamine”.

70% isopropyl alcohol wipe: Apple, Samsung, and Google all recommend using isopropyl alcohol–based cleaning wipes on their devices. Apple also says you can use 75% ethyl alcohol wipes or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. Samsung additionally suggests 50- to 80-ppm hypochlorous acid–based solutions.

If you are wondering what chemistry has to do with smartphones, just look at the periodic table. Of the 83 stable (nonradioactive) elements, at least 70 of them can be found in smartphones!

Did you know that your mobile phone contains at least 30 different naturally-occurring elements?

As with all integrated circuit electronic devices, there are all sorts of toxins inside every smart phone as part of the production of the components that make up the smart phone - lead, bromine, cholorine, mercury, cadmium, etc.

Metals are also another category of raw materials that go into the cell phone, most of which are used in the circuit board and the battery. A regular circuit board usually consists of several metals including copper, gold, lead, nickel, zinc, beryllium, tantalum, and coltan[12].