Cell Phones are Hazardous to the Environment
Cell phones are a relatively new invention but almost everyone has one. Companies are constantly coming out with new cell phone technology and people feel lost without their cell phones. The rapid growth of technology and popularity of the cell phone has some dangerous consequences, however.
Making Cell Phones is Hazardous
As soon as a factory starts to make a cell phone, the environment is negatively affected. A lot of our natural resources go into the production of cell phones. Valuable elements like gold, copper, palladium and silicon are all used in cell phone production. These elements have to be drilled or otherwise extracted from the ground, which uses a lot of energy and water and creates a lot of hazardous waste.
Making a phone or two is not too much of a hazard but millions of cell phones are produced every single year. A lot of people have a phone for personal use and a work phone. People usually only use their cell phone for a few years before replacing it with a more modern cell phone model. The more phones we use the more dangerous waste is produced and released into the environment and the more resources we use.
Disposing of Cell Phones
Cell phones are hazardous to the environment because we generally just throw our old phones away when we get new ones. The problem with all the cell phones ending up in the trash is that there are toxic metals like lead and mercury in the phones that can harm our environment.
The large number of cell phones in our landfills is a serious environmental problem. No matter how well taken care of the landfill is, the toxic metals in the cell phone make their way into the environment at some point. That can lead to toxins in our water and soil that can get into our food supply.
If everyone would recycle their old cell phones, that would greatly reduce the harm to the environment. Unfortunately, most people do not recycle their cell phones and may not even know that it is an option. There are no laws requiring cell phones to be recycled. It can actually cost you to recycle your cell phone so that causes a lot of cell phone owners to be discouraged and simply throw their phones in the trash.
Dangers of Cell Towers
The more cell phones we use the more cell phone towers we need so we have a signal wherever we go. Cell phone towers use up valuable land that could be put to a better, more environmentally-friendly use. Cell phone towers also require the use of natural resources to build. There can be other dangers to the environment as well.
Cell phone towers work by sending out a frequency that we cannot hear. It is unknown what the long term effects of this frequency are. Birds can become disorientated and fly right into cell phone towers in some cases and that may be from the frequencies. Some farmers report problems with their cows’ health if they are near a cell phone tower. There are no scientific studies to show exactly what effect these frequencies have on humans or animals, however. Cell phones make it possible for us to always be in contact with our friends and family. However, the popularity of cell phones has negatively affected the environment.
Tags: Cell Phone Technology, Copper, Dangerous Consequences, Dangerous Waste, Environment Cell, Environmental Problem, Food Supply, Hazardous Waste, Immune System, Landfill, Landfills, Natural Resources, New Invention, Old Cell Phones, Old Phones, Palladium, Personal Use, Phone Model, Rapid Growth, Silicon, Toxic Metals