Computer Plastics Recycled Into Toys

Source

As Thomas Thwaites mentioned in his Toaster Project TED talk (and as did one of last month's videos at about 5:35), we have plastics within us.

Well, as reported in Chemistry World, "[r]esearchers in Europe have narrowed the search for bad recycling practices that are to blame for some toys and food packaging inadvertently containing banned pollutants." And they've found ways to check this using handheld x-ray fluorescence spectrometers rather than the much larger gas chromatography method.

"The team found evidence for brominated flame retardants in 61% of 26 samples of toys and cup lids. Rare earth element concentrations in the positive samples correlated to a particular waste stream – plastics used in copier, laptop and computer casings – for the first time providing evidence on the source of the problem. "

Stupid copiers...