Testing computers’ hazardous potential

From Chicago, at the EPA Emerging Pollutants Workshop

The standard test to evaluate whether metal-laden products are hazardous fails to flag high concentrations of lead in some discarded electronics equipment, new studies show.

“It was a surprise,” says Timothy Townsend of the University of Florida in Gainesville. On the other hand, the data are consistent with findings by others for certain metal-foundry wastes, he says.