Lesson Plan 020106

Objectives:

1. Create awareness for technology pollution and for its growingthreat to public health.

2. Create awareness for the specific area of cell phone pollution,especially its ripple effects in other parts of the world.

3. Challenge students to become active in supporting safe cellphone collection and recycling.

4. Challenge schools and other organizations to beginparticipating in cell phone recycling and collection efforts.

Materials/Sources:

1. “Toxic Transmission” Cell Phone Pollution Facts Page.2. National Geographic Cell Phone / Saving Apes Article.3. “Toxic Transmission” Activity Page.4. “Toxic Transmission” Classroom Comic.5. Computers connected to the Internet/world wide web.

Methods:1. Distribute “Toxic Transmission” Cell Phone Pollution Facts

page and National Geographic Cell Phone / Saving ApesArticle to students. Have them spend 15 minutes readingand reviewing these pages.

2. After students have read these pages, hand out the “ToxicTransmission” Activity page and Classroom Comic. Havethem complete the activity page in class.

3. HOMEWORK: Using the web resources on the ClassroomComics page and other searches, students will conductonline research about:A. Different types of cell phone and technology collection

and recycling services and programs. Students willchoose the program that interests them most and givereasons why they chose it.

B. Various dangers posed by electronics waste. Haveeach student choose one type of electronic device(computer, CRT monitor, mp3 player, handheld PDA,etc.) and find facts about current numbers in circulation,estimates of potential landfill waste (by the ton or millionsof units), newer, less toxic technologies.

4. NEXT CLASS PERIOD: Student-led discussion.Question 1: What cell technology recycling/collection

program interested you most? Why?Question 2: Which type of electronics technology do you

think is the most potentially dangerous to soil andgroundwater? Why?

Background Information for Teachers:

INFORM, Inc. is a national environmental research organization,based in New York City, which identifies practical ways of livingand doing business that ensure environmentally sustainableeconomic growth. For over a decade, INFORM has been aleader in the study of closed-loop materials systems and thepractical application of extended producer responsibility (EPR),

a policy approach designed to hold manufacturers responsiblefor their products at end of life. INFORM has published over100 reports, including more than a dozen studies and manualsfor businesses, policy makers, schools, and communities onstrategies for preventing wastes at their source.INFORM’s study “Waste in the Wireless” World analyzes theenvironmental problems created by cell phones, which alsoapply to other wireless electronic devices, such as personaldigital assistants, portable e-mail devices, pagers, pocket PCs,and MP3 music players. All are made of similar materials andpresent similar problems with respect to the waste theygenerate. Wireless waste poses particularly acute problemswhen these small devices are sent to landfills or incinerators,where releases of the many toxic materials they contain createthreats to human health and the environment.Cell phones are typically used for only 18 months before beingreplaced, and as of 2005 about 130 million of these devices,weighing approximately 65,000 tons, are being retired annuallyin the US. Most of them will initially be stored away in closetsand drawers, creating a stockpile of about 500 million usedphones that will soon enter the waste stream.“Because these devices are so small, their environmentalimpacts might appear to be minimal,” said Bette Fishbein,INFORM Senior Fellow and report author. “But the growth intheir use has been so enormous that the environmental andpublic health impacts of the waste they create are a significantconcern. Now is the time to address them.”Waste in the Wireless World presents a series of specificrecommendations for minimizing the environmental and healthimpacts of cell phone waste:• The use of toxic substances in cell phones – particularly

lead and brominated flame retardants – should bereduced. Toxic substances contained in cell phones includea number of persistent and bioaccumulative toxic chemicals,or PBTs, which have been associated with cancer and arange of reproductive, neurological, and developmentaldisorders. PBTs pose a particular threat to children, whosedeveloping organ and immune systems are highlysusceptible to toxic insult. PBTs in cell phones includearsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel,and zinc. Additional health threats are posed by brominatedflame retardants used in plastic components. These toxicsubstances can leach into soil and groundwater fromlandfills and form highly toxic dioxins and furans duringincineration and recycling.

• A single technical standard for all cell phone carriers,along with standardized cell phone design elements,should be implemented in the US and worldwide. Phone

“Toxic Transmission” Teacher Information - Pg 1(Target: Grades 7-9)

Lesson Plan 020106“Toxic Transmission” Teacher Information - Pg 2(Target: Grades 7-9)

systems in Europe all use a single standard, used in over130 countries by two-thirds of the world's cell phonesubscribers. In contrast, the US has several competingtechnical standards, forcing users to purchase a new phonewhen they change service providers or travel abroad. Asa result, more phones are purchased and more discarded.Design standardization would allow adapters and otheraccessories to be used with many makes and models ofcell phone. At present, accessories are dedicated to specificdevices, creating additional waste whenever consumersbuy a new phone. Like cell phones, such accessoriescontain toxic components and frequently create more wastethan the phones themselves.

• Cell phones and their accessories, including powersources, should be designed for disassembly, reuse,and recycling. The key to reducing waste and makingreuse and recycling cost-effective is product design. Forexample, products designed to last longer will generateless waste, and products that contain alternatives to toxiccomponents will be cheaper to recycle. Similarly, ifmanufacturers make ease of disassembly a priority,designers will create products with parts that can be easilyremoved for repair or reuse and materials that can beeasily separated for recycling. Mandated recycling targetsprovide a powerful incentive for producers to make suchdesign changes. In anticipation of EU requirements, forinstance, European researchers have developed a phonethat can disassemble itself in 1.5 seconds.

• US manufacturers should implement effective take-backprograms for cell phones. An effective program includestargets for collection and reuse/recycling, reportingrequirements, and enforcement mechanisms. Mostvoluntary take-back initiatives for cell phones and/or otherelectronic equipment in the US lack all of these crucialcomponents.

• Rechargeable batteries, which are particularly toxic,should be a target for take-back. Cell phones are poweredby any of several rechargeable battery types, all of whichcontain toxic substances that can contaminate theenvironment when burned in incinerators or disposed ofin landfills. If each of the 130 million cell phones that willbe discarded each year by 2005 uses two sets of batteriesbefore being retired, 260 million of these batteries will enterthe waste stream each year from cell phones alone. Today,the only nationwide, industry-wide product take-backprogram in the US is for rechargeable batteries. Thisprogram, run by the Rechargeable Battery RecyclingCorporation, represents a positive step for the US, sinceproducers that participate take full financial responsibility

for managing their products at end of life. However, theprogram has not reported regularly on its recycling rates,has failed to meet its targets, and has had to face noconsequences for the shortfall.

Progress Abroad, Pressure at HomeINFORM’s study documents efforts in Europe, Japan, andAustralia to deal with this fast-growing and hazardous wastestream. For example, Australia has implemented the world’sfirst and only nationwide take-back program dedicated torecovering and recycling cell phones. In the European Union(EU), pending directives will require electronics manufacturersto phase out toxic components and take responsibility forwaste generated by products marketed in the EU. Andforthcoming design guidelines in Japan will result in morelong-lasting and recyclable electronic products with fewer toxiccomponents. In the US, no such national commitments havebeen made.“Despite the lack of any current or pending federal legislationaddressing the end-of-life management of electronics, USgovernment and industry are likely to be influenced by trendsabroad,” said Fishbein. “For example, state-level legislationis being considered in California, Massachusetts, andMinnesota that would make producers responsible for payingthe costs of managing the waste generated by their electronicproducts. Additionally, US manufacturers will have to followthe applicable requirements abroad for internationally marketedgoods by eliminating toxic substances from these productsand funding their take-back. With such changes on the horizon,American industry has even more reason to get ahead of thecurve.”SOURCE: http://www.informinc.org/pr_wireless.php

Mobile phones and other mobiledevices (pagers, PDAs) present agrowing threat to the environment. Thereare almost a billion mobile phones waitingto be recycled around the world; eitherin drawers, or already in the wastestream. Another 130 million or so will beadded this year from the US alone. Oncein the waste stream, these devices mayleak Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Arsenicand other toxic substances into the watersupply. Municipalities often incineratetheir waste, instantly putting these toxicelements into the air, and they return toearth in rain water. Since life on Earthdepends on water, the threat is clear.

Toxic Transmission: LeadLead can cause damage to the centraland peripheral nervous systems, bloodsystem and kidneys in humans. Effectson the endocrine system have also beenobserved and its serious negative effectson children’s brain development hasbeen well documented. Leadaccumulates in the environment and hashigh acute and chronic toxic effects onplants, animals and microorganisms.

Consumer electronics constitute 40%of lead found in landfills. The mainconcern in regard to the presence oflead in landfills is the potential for thelead to leach and contaminate drinkingwater supplies.

The main applications of lead incomputers are: (1) soldering of printedcircuit boards and other electroniccomponents (2) glass panels in computermonitors (cathode ray tubes). Between1997 and 2004, over 315 millioncomputers have become obsolete is theUSA. This adds up to about 1.2 billionpounds of lead!

People, animals, and fish are mainlyexposed to lead by breathing andingesting it in food, water, soil, or dust.Lead accumulates in the blood, bones,muscles, and fat. Infants and young

children are especially sensitive to evenlow levels of lead.

Damages OrgansLead causes damage to the kidneys,liver, brain and nerves, and other organs.Exposure to lead may also lead toosteoporosis (brittle bone disease) andreproductive disorders.

Affects Brain and NervesExcessive exposure to lead causesseizures, mental retardation, behavioraldisorders, memory problems, and moodchanges. Low levels of lead damage thebrain and nerves in fetuses and youngchildren, resulting in learning deficits andlowered IQ.

Affects Heart and BloodLead exposure causes high bloodpressure and increases heart disease,especially in men. Lead exposure mayalso lead to anemia, or weak blood.

Affects Animals and PlantsWild and domestic animals can ingestlead while grazing. They experience thesame kind of effects as people who areexposed to lead. Low concentrations oflead can slow down vegetation growthnear industrial facilities.

Affects FishLead can enter water systems throughrunoff and from sewage and industrialwaste streams. Elevated levels of leadin the water can cause reproductivedamage in some aquatic life and causeblood and neurological changes in fishand other animals that live there.

Toxic Transmission: MercuryWhen inorganic mercury spreads out inthe water, it is transformed intomethylated mercury in the bottomsediments. Methylated mercury easilyaccumulates in living organisms andconcentrates through the food chainparticularly via fish. Methylated mercurycauses chronic damage to the brain.

It is estimated that 22% of the yearlyworld consumption of mercury isused in electrical and electronicequipment. It is basically used inthermostats, (position) sensors, relaysand switches (e.g. on printed circuitboards and in measuring equipment)and discharge lamps. Furthermore, it isused in medical equipment, datatransmission, telecommunications, andmobile phones. Mercury is also used inbatteries, switches/housing, and printedwiring boards. Although this amount issmall for any single component, 315million obsolete computers as of 2004represents more than 400,000 poundsof mercury in total.

Toxic Transmission: CadmiumCadmium compounds are classified astoxic with a possible risk of irreversibleeffects on human health. Cadmium andcadmium compounds accumulate in thehuman body, in particular in kidneys.Cadmium is adsorbed through respirationbut is also taken up with food. Due tothe long half-life (30 years), cadmiumcan easily be accumulated in amountsthat cause symptoms of poisoning.Cadmium shows a danger of cumulativeeffects in the environment due to itsacute and chronic toxicity.

In electrical and electronic equipment,cadmium occurs in certain componentssuch as SMD chip resistors, infrareddetectors and semiconductors. Oldertypes of cathode ray tubes containcadmium. Furthermore, cadmium is usedas a plastic stabilizer.

Between 1997 to 2004 over 315 millioncomputers have become obsolete andthis represents almost 2 million poundsof cadmium content.

Toxic Transmission - February 2006

Cell Phone Pollution Facts Partial Source: www.collectivegood.com

Toxic Transmission - February 2006

Recycle your cell phone, save thegorillas.

It may not be as simple as that, buta recycling program to collect old cellphones at the San Diego Zoo and otherAmerican zoos is highlighting the little-known connection between cell phoneuse and the survival of African gorillas.

Conservationists point out thatrecycling cell phones protects landfillsfrom the many potentially hazardouschemicals found in the phones, includingantimony, arsenic, copper, cadmium,lead, and zinc.

But cell phones also includecoltan, a mineral extracted in the deepforests of Congo in central Africa,home to the world's endangeredlowland gorillas.

Fueled by the worldwide cell phoneboom, Congo's out-of-control coltanmining business has in recent years ledto a dramatic reduction of animal habitatand the rampant slaughter of great apesfor the illegal bush-meat trade.

"Most people don't know that there'sa connection between this metal in theircell phones and the well-being of wildlifein the area where it's mined," said KarenKillmar, the associate curator ofmammals at the San Diego Zoo.

"Recycling old cell phones is a wayfor people to do something very simplethat could reduce the need for additionalcoltan…and help protect the gorillas,"she said.Reselling Phones

There are more than 150 million cellphone users in the United States alone.

With technology changing, theaverage lifespan of a cell phone is 14months. There may already be 500million unused cell phones in the UnitedStates, with as many as 100 millionadded each year.

The San Diego Zoo is among 46zoos that have joined the recycling

program, which is run by Eco-Cell, a cellphone-recycling firm based in Louisville,Kentucky.

Eco-Cell collected 21,000 phoneslast year and hopes to triple that figurethis year.

The phones are sold in bulk to ahandful of refurbishing companies thatin turn resell the handsets in developingmarkets, such as Africa and LatinAmerica.

Eco-Cell started in 2002 but beganhoning in on zoos in 2005. The proceedsit makes from selling the phones go tosupporting various conservation groups,primarily zoos.

"It just made business logic to focuson zoos, since 130 million-plus peoplewent to North American zoos last year,"said Eco-Cell president Eric Ronay. "Weset up a collection point at the front gateof those zoos and invited the public tobring in their old cell phones."

Ronay said learning about thedevastating impact of coltan mining onAfrican gorillas "really made lightbulbsgo off for us."Illegal Miners

Columbite-tantalite—coltan forshort—is a metallic ore that, whenrefined, becomes metallic tantalum, aheat-resistant powder that can hold ahigh electrical charge.

These properties are ideal formaking capacitors, which are used inmany electronic devices, including cellphones.

Eighty percent of the world's knowncoltan supply is in the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo. There, it is minedby hand by groups of men digging basinsin streams, scraping away dirt to get tothe muddy coltan underneath.

The cell-phone boom in the lastdecade induced a flood of more than10,000 illegal miners into protected parksin central Africa.

"The mining itself certainly destroyshabitat, so human activity at the veryleast disturbs the animals there. Butmore of what happens is that the animalsare hunted and killed," said Killmar, theSan Diego Zoo curator. "The impact isnothing but negative."

Conflict, illegal mining, and thegrowing bush-meat trade (the hunting ofwild animals for food) have all contributedto a 70 percent population decline of theeastern lowland gorilla, according tosome estimates.

Congo's coltan trade has cooled off,however, as prices for the ore haveplummeted. While the tech boom causedthe price of coltan to skyrocket to U.S.$220 per pound ($480 per kilogram) in2000, a pound was worth about $30 ($66per kilogram) in 2004.E-Waste

Sharon Dewar, a spokesperson forthe San Diego Zoo, says the objectiveof the recycling program is conservationeducation.

"Many people have cell phones athome in a drawer that are old, and theydon't know what to do with them," shesaid.

"These phones contain toxicelements. What we're saying is, Pleasedon't throw your cell phone into a landfill."

"If a cell phone can be refurbished,that might also help diminish the demandfor coltan mining, which could in facthelp gorillas and other animals in theirhabitat," she said.

To Ronay, the Eco-Cell president,used cell phones are only one part of agrowing e-waste problem.

"No one really understands howcritical this is going to be, especially astechnology progresses and moretechnology becomes abandoned," hesaid.

"We are going to look up one dayand be in the middle of a crisis."

Can Cell-Phone Recycling Help African Gorillas?Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic, January 20, 2006 • http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0120_060120_cellphones.html

Read the “Cell Phone Pollution Facts” Page, and then answer the following:

Around the world, there are almost _________________ cell phones waiting to be

recycled. In the US alone this year, _______________ cell phones will be retired.

Cell phones and other electronic technologies pose a real threat to human health,

because they contain several toxic metals such as ____________, ___________

and ______________. The most damaging of these is _________, which causes

harm to several human organs including the _____________, _______________,

______________, _______________ and other organs. Exposure to this metal

may also cause the brittle bone disease ________________________. Sadly, this

metal is most harmful--even in low levels--to _________________, who suffer brain

damage, learning deficits and lowered IQ.

“Toxic Transmission” Word Find(Spaces between two-word terms are not in puzzle)

Toxic Transmission - February 2006

ANEMIA

ARSENIC

BRAIN

CADMIUM

CHILDREN

CIRCUIT BOARDS

LEAD

MERCURY

METHYLATED

NERVES

ONE BILLION

OSTERIOPOROSIS

SEMICONDUCTORS

SOLDEREING

THERMOSTATS

Find out more about technology pollution by visiting:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/06/tech/main659234.shtmlhttp://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/education/pdfs/life-cell.pdfhttp://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2644http://www.legis.state.wi.us/assembly/asm77/news/columns/Call%20Wasting.htmhttp://news.com.com/2100-1040-844195.html

http://www.realmama.org/archives-fall-2005/recycling.phphttp://www.bornfree.org.uk/coltanhttp://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2001/dec/20011220.coltan.htmlhttp://www.informinc.org/Calling_Cellphones_front.pdfhttp://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,65932-0.htmlhttp://greenvilleonline.com/news/2003/11/22/2003112219611.htm

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