Camille Good has asked "Is there any known reason why California is
singling out the electronics with displays greater than 4"?  Do they
have a serious problem with old CRT monitors, or handheld DVD players,
or???"
The answer is political, not scientific. No one has shown that the
present system of uncontrolled disposal of electronic products (any
kind) results in a public health problem. Activists warn darkly about
"risk" and "hazard" (i.e., what might happen), but they have not shown
that anyone is being poisoned (i.e., what is happening). They haven't
even shown that metals from landfilled electronic products (especially
lead) leach from solder or glass into the public water supply, a topic
that has been discussed in this forum over many years. To support the
lack of leaching, I posted a link to a scuba-diving school that is
conducted in an abandoned lead mine (with full permission from the
state).
Recently, Bev Christian (a frequent forum contributor) presented a paper
showing that when the artificially elevated (my term, not his)
concentration of lead and other metals in a leachate per the US EPA TCLP
test is exposed to sulfide or carbonate, or to ordinary topsoil, the
concentrations were drastically reduced. If you've had any training in
chemistry, this is exactly what you would expect. I'm hoping that he
will find the time to produce a synopsis of his paper that he can post
to this forum.
To return to Camille's question, recycling is good for recyclers and
environmental activists. It is pretty much neutral for manufacturers of
electronic products (as long as the rules apply evenly to all). It is
bad for taxpayers and consumers, since they are the ones who get charged
to subsidize the activity. But it isn't bad enough for them to organize
a resistance movement. Hence their interests have been excluded from the
so-called "stakeholder" consultations and legislative hearings of
recyclers, activists (posing as altruistic representatives of the public
but with their own vested interest), and manufacturers. 

Gordon Davy 
Baltimore, MD 
[log in to unmask]
410-993-7399 

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