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Leaching of Hazardous Chemicals from Discarded Electronic
Devices
Project Description:
Research was conducted following up on previous work that
characterized color cathode ray tubes (CRTs) as toxicity
characteristic hazardous wastes. The TCLP was conducted on
a number of other electronic devices, including computer mice,
keyboards, VCRs, printers, and laptop computers. A large
focus was placed on examining the leaching of lead from computer
CPUs and the factors that impact leaching. For many of the
larger devices, the TCLP was modified to allow entire,
un-shredded devices to be tested. The results found that
all devices leached lead in at least samples above the RCRA TC
limit of 5 mg/L. It was noted that size reduction of some
large devices (those with a large content of steel) actually
reduced lead leaching because of the greater amounts of zinc and
iron leached. Report:
PDF
Status: A few more
additional devices are being tested. The results of this
will be combined with that in the report and included as part of
a paper submitted for review to a refereed journal. Investigators:
Timothy Townsend
(PI), Kevin Vann (GRA), Yong Chul Jang (Post Doctoral
Associate), Sarvesh Mutha (GRA), Brian Pearson (GRA), Steve
Musson (GRA), Aaron Jordan (GRA)
Sponsored by: United States
Environmental Protection Agency, Regions 4 and 5
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