Environmental Labelling of Personal Computers
TCO’95 Environmental Requirements
Brominated flame retardants are present in printed circuit boards, cabling, casings, and housings, and are added to delay the spread of fire. Up to 30% of the plastic in a computer casing can consist of
Lead can be found in picture tubes, display screens, solder, and capacitors. Lead damages the nervous system and in higher doses causes lead poisoning. The relevant
Cadmium is present in rechargeable batteries and in the
Mercury is sometimes found in batteries, relays and switches. Mercury damages the nervous system and is toxic in high doses.
TCO’95 requirement states that batteries may not contain more than 25 ppm (parts per million) of mercury. It also demands that no mercury is present in any of the electrical or electronics components concerned with the display unit. Mercury is, for the time being, permitted in the back light system of flat panel monitors as there today is no commercially available alternative. TCO aims on removing this exception when a mercury free alternative is available.
CFCs (freons) are sometimes used for washing printed circuit boards and in the manufacture of expanded foam for packaging. CFCs break down ozone and thereby damage the ozone layer in the atmosphere, causing increased reception on Earth of