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In 2006, 17.7 million personal digital assistants (PDAs) were sold,[1] up from 14.9 million in 2005.[2] Many of these PDAs now have cellular phone capabilities as well (sometimes called smartphones), making their environmental impact similar to those of a cell phone. In fact, studies often lump the two together.

To create a PDA, several pounds of raw materials are used, including petroleum-based plastics, liquid crystal display materials, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), and toxic heavy metals including cadmium, lead, nickel, mercury, manganese, lithium, zinc, arsenic, antimony, beryllium, and copper to manufacture it. If not properly recycled, these toxins seep from mobile devices into the environment, where they can accumulate in the food chain and cause damage to plants, animals, and humans.

In addition to the use of toxic materials and natural resources, PDAs consume dirty energy to keep running. Only about 5 percent of the power consumed by PDA or cell phone chargers is used to charge a device; 95 percent is consumed by the charger when no device is plugged in.[3] And while the environmental impact of the infrastructure for a PDA with cellular connectivity is significantly smaller than that for land-based telephones, building and maintaining things like a cell tower, transmission lines and the power to run it all can cause destruction to natural habitat.

Using a PDA, however, can also have a positive effect on the environment. A study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley revealed that receiving your news wirelessly on your PDA instead of having a printed subscription delivered to your mailbox requires up to 140 times less carbon dioxide and the consumption of between 26 to 67 times less water.[4] This same study reports that if 25 percent of newspaper readers in the US switched to reading their news on a PDA, they'd cut their news reading CO₂ emissions by 97 percent and eliminate the need for 14 million print newspapers.

Related health issues

When released into the environment, the chemicals that make up PDAs, cell phones, and other electronics can cause severe harm to humans and animals, as well as long term damage to the natural environment.

Glossary

• cadmium: Found in chip resistors, infrared detectors, and semiconductors. Toxic and bio-accumulative, this chemical can harm kidney systems.
• lead: Used in the soldering of cell phone circuit boards, it can cause nervous system, kidney, and blood system damage. It is estimated that consumer electronics are responsible for 40 percent of the lead in landfills. From there, it can seep into our drinking water and then accumulate in the environment, affecting plants, animals, and humans.
• mercury: Found in cell phone batteries and circuit boards, can seep into waterways. This chemical travels through the food chain and can cause brain damage.
• brominated flame retardants (BFRs): Used on printed circuit boards and components like plastic covers and cables. Once released into the environment through leaching and incineration, cause increased rates of cancer in those who each mercury-contaminated food.

External links

• Collective Good
• Charitable Recycling
• National Recycling Coalition's Electronic Recycling Initiative
• Plug-in to eCycling Program
• ReCellular
• Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation
• Recycle My Cell Phone
• Wireless Recycling
• Wirefly Recycling