CertiGuide to A+ (Core Hardware)  9  Chapter 1010:  Safety and the Environment

V  Electrical Safety 1 Fire Safety

Generally speaking the computer industry has a good reputation for being a 'clean' business. Sorry to say, parts of it are not, and can be hazardous to you and the environment. Consider the simple battery.

Even a simple battery is known as a lead-acid battery. The acid part could hurt you now, the lead, if it gets into the water supply will get you later. The metal nickel is what makes a nickel metal hydride battery. Or consider today's lithium ion batteries. Did you know lithium violently explodes if it comes into contact with water?

Even a dead monitor can make other things, well, dead.

Transformers may contain Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB). The US Congress in 1976 enacted the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) to deal with PCB management.

Even if a monitor doesn't have PCB in the transformer, every Cathode Ray Tube contains phosphorus, and "the radiated tube and phosphor are too toxic for landfills.” quoting Will Mitchell at the University of Michigan Business School.

Chemical issues and HAZMAT sites are not the only safety issues concerning the PC environment. Have you ever seen a monitor or even a laptop catch fire?

V  Electrical Safety 1 Fire Safety