Environmentalists Want Disclosure of Nano Materials Use in Electronics

After targeting the use of chemicals like brominated flame retardants, lead, cadmium and mercury, environmental groups are turning their attention to the use of nano materials in electronics. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition started a consumer campaign to get electronics makers to disclose the use of nano materials in products via a label. Environmentalists faced “pushback” from electronics manufacturers when they tried to get them to disclose nano material use for EPEAT certification, Sheila Davis, the coalition’s executive director, told us.

In a report on the use of nanotechnology in electronics, the group said “a systematic approach” for understanding the “potential risks” of nano materials doesn’t exist. That’s because “resources from the federal government and companies conducting nanotech research are disproportionately allocated to research and development of the new nano materials and products, rather than to evaluating the safety of the materials, it said: “Large knowledge gaps exist with regard to the potential human health and environmental risks associated with exposure” to nano materials.

Just like BFRs, lead and other chemicals in electronics find their way into the environment and human bodies with improper end-of-life handling, and humans can be exposed to nano materials via inhalation, ingestion and skin absorption, the report said. The risks are larger in developing countries, where most of the used electronics are sent, because recycling isn’t done in a proper and safe way, said Davis. Nano materials are extremely small engineered substances that are used in electronics because they are better at conducting electricity than most conventional materials. Their small size allows for construction of much smaller circuitry than conventional materials, improving overall speed and computational power, the report said.

Nanoscale components are now found in cellphones, computer chips, computers, MP3 players, digital cameras and videogame consoles, the report said. “Nanotech is expected to usher in a new era of ‘molecular’ electronics, in which transistors and memory devices used in computer chips are made with nanowire,” it said. With their minuscule size, device makers can fit millions of transistors on a single microchip the size of a blood cell, the report said.

Urging electronics makers to invest more in research on the potential health hazards of exposure to nano materials, Davis said environmentalists would push at the state and federal levels for a labeling requirement after more risk assessment is done. The group tried in vain to get device makers to agree to disclose use of nano materials and other chemicals in products as a criterion for EPEAT certification, she said. The coalition will “continue to push” for disclosure of nano materials use at EPEAT, she said. EPEAT Outreach Director Sarah O'Brien referred queries on nano issues to standards development officials but said EPEAT does “address toxics reduction, and manufacturers are required to hold supplier confirmation, test results and other measures of conformity to demonstrate compliance with those criteria.” The CEA did not respond by our deadline to a request for comment.