Toxicity characterization of waste mobile phone plastics

Waste plastic housing units (N = 60) of mobile phones (of different models, and brands), were collected and analyzed for lead, cadmium, nickel and silver using atomic absorption spectrophotometry after acid digestion using a 1:1 mixture of H2SO4 and HNO3. The mean (+/- S.D.) and range of the results are 58.3 +/- 50.4 mg/kg (5.0-340 mg/kg) for Pb, 69.9 +/- 145 mg/kg (4.6-1005 mg/kg) for Cd, 432 +/- 1905 mg/kg (5.0-11,000 mg/kg) for Ni, and 403 +/- 1888 mg/kg (5.0-12,500 mg/kg) for Ag. Approximately 90% of the results for the various metals were <= 100 mg/kg. Results greater than 300 mg/kg were generally less than 7% for each metal and could be attributed to exogenous contamination of the samples. These results suggest that there may not be any immediate danger from end-of-life (EoL) mobile phone plastic housing if appropriately treated/inanaged. However, considering the large quantities generated and the present lowend management practices in most developing countries, such as open burning, there appears a genuine concern over tile potential for environmental pollution and toxicity to mail and the ecology. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.