Comments on: Is the dust on your computer toxic?

A new study says computer dust contains traces of fire prevention compounds that have been shown in lab tests to present reproductive and neurological risks to animals.

Give us some perspective...

Interesting story, but there's one glaring omission - it doesn't say if the levels of PBDEs in the dust swipe from a single computer are just minute traces, or whether it's high enough to worry about in terms of a direct health threat. There are traces of Strontium 90 in cow's milk, for example, but people still guzzle milk every day with the blessing of health authorities. Can a single computer in your home or on your office desk give off enough PBDEs that using it daily is a direct health threat? Can just being near a computer hurt me, or would I have to regularly lick the motherboard or something to get a harmful level of PBDE exposure? Should people avoid leaving computers on/with fans running for fear of spreading the dust? Should filters be installed on PC exhaust fans immediately?
From your story, I don't know whether I should be continuing to use my PC or wrapping it in plastic and firing it out the door immediately ...
The story raises red flags that might well be valid, but this is also the type of story that could cause public hysteria if a threat gets highlighted but not put into perspective as to how "threatening" it really is.
I agree that the media should highlight threats to public health, but it needs to give people as much perspective as possible at the same time. That's the core of good journalism... go beyond the good lead and the press release information, and give people a picture that's as accurate as possible in terms of what's going on and how something affects them.
IJ

Added info on recycling

The U.S. is currently in violation of a world
treaty on dumping computer/electronic parts. This
treaty was put in place because 80% of the toxic
waste in a landfill comes from the 10% of it that
is from electronics. (see computergeek .com
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2002feb/gee20020226010435.htm
There must be better was to handle this mess.
I would like to see dismantling programs run by
a combination of waste management funding (garbage
fees) and some user fees (1% added to cost when sold). May be used to create jobs at halfway
houses, but life isn't perfect.

Fine Perspective, Respondent Needs Awareness

The article gave a fine, objective informative perspective on the issue. The issue is not just the danger from the dust on one computer, but the cumulative effect on our environment and health and the industry's efforts on awareness and responsibility. Roetzel's additional environmental info is also very pertinent. "Panic", if it prompts more serious efforts to take responsibility in maintaining a clean, healthy environment, can then be productive. Instead of overreacting to part of the information given, consider the full scope of the article, do some additional research/reading, and learn more about the issues.

[Richie7]

Really ?

This takes the cake, computer dust hurts lab animals, we are not lab animals. The very air we breath is laden with autoexhust from cars with 5 times the compounds that are deadly to a human being. Nothing about that in the news. Carbon Monoxide kills lab animals and human beings too. Money takes care of that problem to the right people. So please stop trying to make a new industry by scaring gullable people. Computer dust is no more dangerous to people than EXHAUST fumes are thought to be.

[Richie7]

Really ?

This takes the cake, computer dust hurts lab animals, we are not lab animals. The very air we breath is laden with autoexhust from cars with 5 times the compounds that are deadly to a human being. Nothing about that in the news. Carbon Monoxide kills lab animals and human beings too. Money takes care of that problem to the right people. So please stop trying to make a new industry by scaring gullable people. Computer dust is no more dangerous to people than EXHAUST fumes are thought to be.

Recycling options

The recent California bill (AB302) calling for a ban on the processing, manufacturing, sale or distribution of products containing more than 0.1% penta or octa BDE should not have much impact on the computer industry. The majority of PBDE flame retardants found in some of the thermoplastics used in monitor housings and computer cases are deca-BDE products. Deca BDE's are not included in the state actions noted by the author. From what I can tell, it is undetermined whether deca BDE breaks down into octa and penta molecules with exposure to heat and / or aging.

Dosage is another issue. As noted earlier, there are thresholds for safe exposure. If you read http://www.tera.org/peer/VCCEP/OctaPenta/Octabromodiphenyl/Ether/VCCEP/Tier/1_Main/Report/04-21-03).pdf ,you will find that normal household exposure is well within safety thresholds.

Of concern is the bio-accumulative nature of these products and what years of trace exposure might mean down the road.

The manufacturer of penta and octa BDE flame retardants announced it will voluntarily discontinue sale of its penta and octa products effective Jan. 1, 2005. And that's a positive step.

Now, in addition to recycling and recovery issues, is the question of what to about the volume of mud around capped off oil wells on the ocean floor that may be rich with PBDE content. Until recently, this was the primary application for PBDE compounds and somehow may be tied to how PBDE is apparently getting into the food chain.

Link to the penta / octa exposure report

The link should have been http://www.tera.org/peer/VCCEP/OctaPenta/VCCEP%20Penta%20final%20report.pdf

sorry for any inconvenience

[smwagha]

One problem with computer fans is they get stuck in dust. Whether it be a little fan on a graphic card or the computer's huge power supply block fan, after a year or so they are smeared in fine dust filaments. If a heatsink is placed beneath a fan it can accumulate quite a bunch of dust. This lowers the cooling performance of the fan and even can make it become noisy. Some people do open their computer once a year and vacuum clean all that dust inside and around the fans.

SOLOMON MWAGHA

[BillRuesch]

Professionally I am a printing broker. I argue continuously with the uninformed about trees harvested for paper. Even on emails I see a tag that says, don't print this email unless necessary so that we save trees. How did all of this nonsense get started. Trees are a totally renewable, and recycleable resource. For pete's sake they are created to be harvested just like brocholli. For every tree harvested the paper industry plants five more. At this rate we will be overrun with trees. The trees aren't in danger.

Electronics on the other hand, don't recycle well and now I learn from this article that even the dust collecting on my system can harm me. We need badges like the ones they wear in the nuclear industry to tell us if we've been exposed to these hazardous particles.

If you would like to keep up with what is going on in the printing, and publishing industries be sure to drop by my blog http://www.billprintbroker.com.