subject: Reasons To Recycle Your Mobile Phone [print this page] Your mobile phone probably contains Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic and Beryllium, all of which can be seriously bad news for our water and soil, simply by being in contact with it for a small amount of time. This contact occurs when we throw old mobile phones into landfills and these days there really is no excuse to be doing this. Mobile phone recycling dominates the web and television adverts and even charities and big companies are getting involved.
Lead is used to solder parts of your mobile phone and can have a detrimental impact on the central nervous system as well as the immune system if it leaks. This is only likely to happen in a landfill situation where the phone is left to fester and contaminate the soil and water supplies.
Cadmium was used in all mobile phone batteries but since it was discovered that one of these could poison over 600,000 litres of water all by itself, manufacturers started to faze them out. Chances are your phone has a Cadmium battery so dont just chuck it in the bin or you could be responsible for killing wildlife that relies on a clean water supply.
Arsenic is a famous poison, weve all heard of it but did you know that your mobile phone can emanate it? If your mobile phone is dumped in a landfill or burnt in an incinerator along with millions of other mobile phones, it can cause poor development or growth, infertility and even death in both animals and humans.
Last but not least, Beryllium, a chemical which is released when mobile phones are incinerated, which can cause serious lung damage if inhaled.
With these four monsters just waiting to be released from your innocent little handset, youve got two great reasons to get into mobile phone recycling; to save the environment and to save yourself. And thats before you even think about the fact that by recycling your mobile phone you could make yourself some money or make a real difference to those less fortunate.
