20
May 2008 - International — Nintendo’s Wii.
Sony’s PlayStation 3 Elite. Microsoft’s
Xbox 360. They promise a whole new generation
of high-definition gaming, but when it comes
to the crunch, it’s the same old story.
As our search for greener electronics continues,
it was time for the game consoles to go
to our labs for scientific analysis – and
all of them tested positive for various
hazardous chemicals.
Our analysis, published
in our new report,“Playing Dirty”, detected
the use of hazardous chemicals and materials
such aspolyvinyl chloride (PVC), phthalates,
beryllium and bromine indicative ofbrominated
flame retardants (BFRs).
But the tests also showed
that each manufacturer had avoided or reduced
uses of individual hazardous substances
in certain materials within their consoles.
For example, the Nintendo Wii managed quite
well without using beryllium in its electrical
contacts, and use of PVC and phthalates
was limited. The PlayStation 3, meanwhile,
included “bromine-free” circuit boards and
the Xbox 360 used fewer brominated materialsin
its housing materials.
As we’ve seen previously
– with laptops andwith mobile phones – if
manufacturers only looked at each other’s
products, they’d quickly see ways of replacing
their own dirty components with toxic-freematerials.
A greener, cleaner game console is possible.
There’s no excuse forplaying dirty.
Know what you’re playing
with...
The game consoles all
contained high levels of bromine - used
in circuit boards and plastic casings. Brominated
flame retardants do not break down easily
and build up in the environment. Long-term
exposure can lead to impaired learning and
memory functions. They can also interfere
with thyroid and oestrogen hormone systems
and exposure in the womb has been linked
to behavioural problems.
Components of the Xbox
360 and the PlayStation3 also contained
high levels of phthalates, one of which
– DEHP – is known to interfere with sexual
development in mammals: including humans
and, especially, males.
The game consoles market
is one of thefastest growing in consumer
electronics – over 60 million game consoles
havebeen sold, and the sector saw a 14 percent
growth over the last year. Ironically, despite
being used for playing games, game consoles
are not classified as toys. If they were,
existing EU legislation concerning the use
of hazardous chemicals in toys and childcare
articles would mean that these game consoles
simply couldn’t be sold at all in the EU
market!
The toxic menace doesn’t
stop there. Gameconsoles also contribute
towards the fastest growing type of waste
– ewaste.Once they’ve reached the end of
useful life, game consoles are often dumped
and end up in unsafe and dirty recycling
yards in developing countries,where toxic
contents harm both the environment and the
health of workers.
The technology is already
available for manufacturers to design out
harmful toxics and produce cleaner game
consoles now. It’s time that not only Nintendo,
Sony and Microsoft but all electronics manufacturers
start toplay fair.
