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SVTC HOME > CLEAN COMPUTER CAMPAIGN > GREEN DESIGN > HALOGEN ELIMINATION
Halogen Elimination
Several types of brominated flame retardants are used in the electronics industry including polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) and tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA). Studies have found that PBDE is bioaccumulative, has endocrine disrupting properties and can form dioxin if burned within a specific temperature range. Several companies have begun to phase out brominated flame retardants.
(Text has been directly quoted from the companies' 2000/2001 environmental reports.)
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Apple
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No BFRs in casing
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Canon
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Actively uses plastics with halogen-free flame retardants
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Hitachi
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Flora 220FX printed circuit board halogen-free
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IBM
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[Has 100% recycled plastic computer that doesn't use halogentated flame retardants (Intellistation)]
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NEC
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Halogen-free and phosphorus-free plastic called NuCycle used for computer casing NuCycle is recycled polycarbonate plastic from manufacture of electronic parts.
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Panasonic
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At present, this [halogen – free] technology is being successively applied to a wide range of other products, such as PCs and monitors.
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Sony
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Has substituted halogen-free flame retardants for halogenated flame retardants for cabinets and printed wiring boards in some models, but has not eliminated halogenated flame retardants from all models sold in Europe. Notebook VAIO SR Series uses no halogenated flame retardants in housing or boards. Housing is made of magnesium alloy.
Desktop VAIO LX PCV – LX50G housing made of halogen-free materials.
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Toshiba
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DynaBook SS3490 personal computer uses halogen/antimony free flame retardrants (not available in the US)
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More information about brominated flame retardants (BFRs)
Our Stolen Future
- A book on endocrine disrupting chemicals written by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski and John Peterson Myers
Center for Health, Environment, and Justice - An information source on dioxin contamination around the US
PBDEs in Blood of Swedish Workers - An abstract from a study on PBDE contamination in human blood (Environmental Health Perspectives)
PBDEs and Breast Milk Monitoring Programs - A study detailing the rise of PBDE contamination in breast milk (Environmental Health Perspectives)
Swedish EPA Paper - An overview of toxicology, chemistry and environmental availability of PBDE and TBBPA (96 Pages)To view and/or print you must have the
Adobe Acrobat viewer, available at no charge.
Danish EPA Paper
- An overview of BFR uses and regulations in Denmark
Engineering Weekly - an excerpt from Engineering Weekly (a Danish trade journal),
focuses on off-gassing from computers
Endocrine Disrupter Factsheet
- Factsheet by US EPA gives background on endocrine disrupters (4 pages)
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