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30. European
legislation is leading the push for lead-free electronics and electrical
appliances, and the changeover to flat screens is slowly ending the era of
leaded cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs and computer monitors. Their recycling is
usually done lead-safely in Western countries, but causes mass lead and other
heavy metal poisoning in poorer countries, where most Western CRTs are
recycled.
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The basic problem
with leaded products is that putting them into an environment is easy,
collecting them is not.
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The larger the item,
the more collectable and recyclable it is. It is, in this sense, easier to
deal with. The items are visible – some are highly visible, like lead
flashing or radiation shielding – and can be more easily isolated from human
contact, although in poorer countries, the black market is dominant in lead
recycling activities.
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