UC Systemwide Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program

UC Toxics News: Summer 2002
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The average life of a cell phone is 18 months. In 1985 there were 340,000 cell phone subscribers. By 2001, that number had risen to 128 million. Oladele Ogunseitan, Associate Professor of Social Ecology at UC Irvine, and his research group has estimated that by the year 2005, there will be 5 thousand tons of old cell phones dumped every year. "There’s a small amount of lead solder in each cell phone", says Ogunseitan, "but millions multiplied by a little bit equals a big problem."

Lead in the environment can have serious effects on human health, including nerve disorders, memory and concentration problems, digestive problems, high blood pressure, muscle and joint pain, and behavior and learning problems, especially in children. Recent research has suggested that detectable blood lead levels in children can have a direct impact on IQ test scores; for each 10 milligrams per deciliter of lead in blood, there appears to be a corresponding one point reduction in IQ.

Ogunseitan, along with a group of scientists from UC Irvine, has received one of the first TSR&TP Interdisciplinary Research Team awards for 2002-03 to evaluate implications of policies to phase out lead-based solders from consumer electronic products, in the California electronics industry. The project combines Ogunseitan’s expertise on environmental health with materials scientist Andrew Shapiro, environmental engineer Julie Schoenung, and economist Jean-Daniel Saphores.

Project Investigator Oladele Ogunseitan	Materials Scientist Andrew Shapiro
Environmental Engineer Julie Schoenung	Economist Jean-Daniel Saphores

"In the microelectronics industry, lead is used primarily in solders", Ogunseitan’s proposal states. "There is currently no uniform policy at the state, national, or international levels for regulating the use of lead for this purpose, and there are no specific programs for tracking the fate of lead after product sales."

The project will investigate whether we should keep lead or replace it with an alternative metal and whether recycling should be legislated for electronic products that contain toxic metals. Using four scenarios where lead is banned or not banned, and recycling is mandatory or not, the group will use models to analyze the tradeoffs with environmental and public health compared to economic gains or losses. Then the researchers will make recommendations to the State of California on policy alternatives to balance economic impacts with adverse environmental effects.

The debate over policies right now is driven by international pressure from Japan and Europe. Many European companies have a take-back policy similar to a beverage container deposit. Japan even has lead-free stickers on some of their products, although the stickers don’t indicate the alternative used. Ogunseitan believes the phase out of lead in microelectronics may ultimately be market driven by "green products" that may outsell conventional lead products. "The US has the longest experience with lead. We shouldn’t passively let the market dictate what we do," says Ogunseitan. "California should be a leader in reducing lead use in electronics."

Ogunseitan’s project will look at the question of alternatives more carefully by performing a life-cycle analysis of lead solders versus bismuth-based solders. The research at this stage is very important. "If we just let market forces prevail, we may end up with an alternative substance that we don’t know much about", Ogunseitan warns.

Other alternatives are silver alloys such as tin-copper-silver, or indium-based solder. Though much is known about silver and copper in the environment, their relative safety is uncertain. And they cost more. Indium is a rare metal and even more expensive. A complete life-cycle assessment is necessary before any specific composition emerges as the preferred alternative. "For lead" says Ogunseitan, "it’s difficult to assure that anything could be worse."

Scientific data should be a key factor in influencing policy decisions, and Ogunseitan and his colleagues hope to provide that data for California. "We’re trying to improve public health and to encourage recovering and redirecting the lead in microelectronics," he says, "and we hope to do it in a way that makes both the legislature and industry comfortable with the choices. Ultimately, protecting human and environmental health will come at a price, but I think that price is worth it."

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