Electronics industry

Email this page to a friend

Want news about Electronics industry and more e-mailed to you? Click here for free email alerts

Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power Mark Schapiro See book keywords and concepts

Efforts to institute a nationwide recycling plan have been resisted by the electronics industry. In 2005 the EPA withdrew support from its own National Electronic Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI), which was intended to establish a financing system to facilitate a nationwide system for the recycling and reuse of used electronics. The electronics industry, the agency concluded, could not agree on a jointly coordinated approach. Instead, the EPA substituted a series of voluntary programs that the Government Accountability Office determined, in November 2005, were ineffective.

March 2007 hit like a power surge for Panasonic, Intel, Sony, and the rest of the global electronics industry. Eight months after RoHS, the EU's directive banning all hazardous chemicals and minerals in electronic devices, the Chinese equivalent came into force: the "Administration on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products" sent a signal that China would no longer allow itself to be the world's dumping ground for hazardous products.

Having the word 'safe' implies a condition that could be its opposite," an electronics industry consultant told me." In a second stage, starting in March 2008, none of those substances will be permitted in electronic information products any longer, putting the country in alignment with the European Union. (Like the EU, the Chinese will be issuing exemptions if companies can demonstrate there are no viable alternatives.) Europe's determination to cleanse some of the most pervasive products of their toxins kicked off a domino effect from Brussels to Beijing and beyond.

Three years ago Kirschener started seeing the writing on the wall, and decided to make monitoring what the EU would mean for the electronics industry his business. 2006 was a boom year. The engineers in the Quanta Labs meeting room were accustomed to creative challenges. How to construct and solve mechanical puzzles is something they know well. As Kirschener told me: "These guys have spent their careers thinking creatively about how to solve problems, come up with new ideas, and put them into action.

In 2005 the EPA withdrew support from its own National Electronic Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI), which was intended to establish a financing system to facilitate a nationwide system for the recycling and reuse of used electronics. The electronics industry, the agency concluded, could not agree on a jointly coordinated approach. Instead, the EPA substituted a series of voluntary programs that the Government Accountability Office determined, in November 2005, were ineffective.

The automobile industry was being forced to look warily toward Europe, just as its peers in the electronics industry were doing. "We've been hit by a tsunami," is how Michael Taubitz, the global safety officer for General Motors, put it to me from his office outside Detroit. Taubitz has been an engineer at GM for forty-one years; he started working at an engine plant in Flint, Michigan, and is now in charge of the company's efforts to keep pace with the multiplicity of new standards affecting his industry.

Staying Healthy in a Risky Environment: The New York University Medical Center Family Guide Arthur C. Upton, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that is a common ingredient in insecticides, but it is also used in smelting processes, wood preservatives, and the electronics industry. Trace amounts of arsenic (not necessarily in its most dangerous chemical forms or amounts great enough to cause cancer) have been measured in air, water, and food. In industrial settings, research has shown that inhaling arsenic can cause lung cancer; dermal contact can cause skin cancer. Because of its potency, arsenic in consumer insecticides is strictly regulated by the EPA.

The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy E. D. Hirsch See book keywords and concepts

Silicon Valley Region on the San Francisco Peninsula in California where the miniaturized electronics industry is centered, so called because most of the devices built there are made of semiconductors such as silicon. fa The term is often used as a catchword to describe the development of high-tech industry: "If we can attract this corporation to our town, we could become another Silicon Valley." software The programs and instructions that run a computer, as opposed to the actual physical machinery and devices that compose the hardware.

Physician: Medicine and the Unsuspected Battle for Human Freedom Richard Leviton See book keywords and concepts

They're up against modern science, medicine, the military, and the electronics industry, for all of whom unlimited electromagnetic energy is as necessary and as taken for granted as water and sunlight. But Becker and Brodeur have flown into the face of major opposition before. For more than thirty years, Becker's research into the electromagnetic basis of life has been eroding the reigning scientific paradigm, while Brodeur, in the last twenty-six years, has taken on the issues of asbestos, ozone depletion, and microwave radiation—and with considerable success.

Earth Right H. Patricia Hynes See book keywords and concepts

CFCs; aerosols account for the highest 1ft single European use; and solvents, primarily for the electronics industry, constitute the major single Japanese use. Consumption rates are much less in the rest of the world; a U.S. person consumes six times the global average of CFCs per person. Currently, the third world accounts for 16 percent of the global CFC consumption, but consumption is projected to rise as the industrial base expands. Halons, compounds that contain bromine, are another family of chemicals that are inert at ground level but long-lived.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know James Trefil, Joseph F. Kett, and E. D. Hirsch See book keywords and concepts

Silicon Valley Region on the San Francisco Peninsula in California where the miniaturized electronics industry is centered, so called because most of the devices built there are made of semiconductors such as silicon. fa The term is often used as a catchword to describe the development of high-tech industry: "If we can attract this corporation to our town, we could become another Silicon Valley." software The programs and instructions that run a computer, as opposed to the actual physical machinery and devices that compose the hardware.

Cancer Therapy: The Independent Consumer's Guide To Non-Toxic Treatment & Prevention Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. See book keywords and concepts

Germanium is a mineral widely used in the electronics industry as a semiconductor. It is also found in minute amounts in almost all food (1). Germanium has a limited use in conventional medicine (as an intestinal astringent in animals and an antibiotic) (2). In 1976, Japanese scientists announced the synthesis of an organic form of the mineral, called Ge-132 (3). Several studies have since reported that Ge-132 has anticancer effects (4,5). Germanium has also been reported to be an effective immune enhancer (6). This discovery led to widespread advocacy of germanium as a 'miracle cure.

The Cancer Industry Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. See book keywords and concepts

The tiny transistor "shook the $45 billion electronics industry to its foundations" and wiped out many old, established businesses. The goal of corporate directors, Business Week continued, is "to get the risks of innovation under even tighter control." "The main thing a fellow in my position can do is turn things off," an executive vice president for research and development of a large corporation admitted. "The curse of R&D is letting things go on too long.

Age Erasers for Men: Hundreds of Fast and Easy Ways to Beat the Years Doug Dollemore, Mark Giuliucci and the Editors of Men's Health Magazine See book keywords and concepts

Exposure to a large number of agents—solder used in the electronics industry or fumes from the making of plastics—may sensitize the airway and make someone asthmatic. And many times people develop asthma, and it's not clear what caused it." What is clear, doctors agree, is that asthma, which affects about 12 million Americans, is becoming more prevalent and more deadly every year. About 5,000 people die from it each year—and the death rate climbs with age. In a 20-year span, the estimated number of people with asthma rose 71 percent.

Earth Right H. Patricia Hynes See book keywords and concepts

In time, CFCs were used as a refrigerant in home, car, and commercial air conditioners; as a propellant in aerosol spray cans ranging from hairspray and deodorant to furniture polish; as a cleaning solvent by the electronics industry to remove glue, grease, and soldering residues on computer chips; as a sterilant for medical devices; in "high-efficiency" foam insulation; and as an agent to puff up styrofoam products. From manufacture to use, CFCs mushroomed into a multibillion dollar business.

Staying Healthy in a Risky Environment: The New York University Medical Center Family Guide Arthur C. Upton, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

High-Tech Electronics So rapid has been the expansion of the electronics industry that the full spectrum of its threats to workers remains unknown. Microchip plants often have poor ventilation. Particularly in developing countries, there is a concern that cost-saving measures may be exposing employees to dangerous levels of lead, methylene chloride (a possible carcinogen), and other solvents. Workers in this industry are often subject to painful burns caused by contact with hydrofluoric acid.

FAIR USE NOTICE: The research quoted here is provided under the protection of Fair Use provisions and published by the 501(c)3 non-profit Consumer Wellness Center for the purposes of public comment and education. Authors / publishers may submit books for consideration of inclusion here.

TERMS OF USE: Read full terms of use. Citations of text from NaturalPedia must include: 1) Full credit to the original author and book title. 2) Secondary credit to the Natural News Naturalpedia as a research resource and a link to www.NaturalNews.com/np/index.html

This unique compilation of research is copyright (c) 2008 by the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center.

ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.