Hi-Tech Pollution

Pollution literally means ‘Impurity’. It is the undesirable addition of some harmful agents to something pure, which makes the latter impure and imperfect for use. It can be considered a side effect of the development in agriculture, Industries, Science and technology and is thus, a necessary evil of all developments.

Today it has become a scareword all over the world. For a long time, pollution like air, water, soil and noise have been matters of great concern. These have disturbed the ecological balance, resulting in desertification, global warming,
ozone depletion, droughts, floods, extinction of many life forms etc.

But to add to these, very recently, a new type of pollution has emerged which is hundreds times more deleterious than these because it affects the environment and every individual in every possible way. It is the hitech pollution which is a by-product of technological development.

This is the hitech age, in which the hitech gadgets like TVs, cell phones, computers, fax machines etc. have become a part and parcel of our day – to – day life and it has become impossible for us to survive without these kiths and kins of modern man. In addition to making our life more comfortable and luxurious, these gadgets also have many harmful effects. Thus, their excessive use leads to a type of pollution which has been termed as “hitech pollution”.

It is solely due to the radiations emitted by these gadgets, the misuse of these gadgets and also due to the hitech wastes which are the toxic electronic wastes (or ewastes) which include the parts of hitech gadget which are thrown
away after they become useless and obsolete.

Hitech pollution has 3 types of effects :- effect on environment (in general), effect on society and individuals (in particular). The most devastating effect of this is that the chemicals used in these gadgets like lead and cadmium in
circuit boards, mercury in switches and flat screen monitors, cadmium in computer batteries and PVC cable insulators etc. when heated, release extremely poisonous gases of which even a very small percentage is mixed in air, could
kill people. When these wastes are thrown out or left in a landfill, without being recycled or properly disposed off, then some of the toxins from these seep into the ground water and through this waste they enter into the bodies of the living organisms and cause severe damage. They also intoxicate the soil thus affecting the vegetation. Thus, these hitech wastes cause serious imbalance in nature.

These gadgets affect the society, only because of their misuse. Among these gadgets the worst enemies of this society are the TVs, cell phones and computers. The TVs and computers in addition to imparting us knowledge on every possible matter, keeping us updated and abreast of all the latest developments, news and information, also are the chief and easiest means of misleading the youth including negative attitudes in children. These have encouraged
obscenities and have led to moral degradation of the society.

The computer games and video games have inculcated severe violence among children and have greatly reduced their creativity and reading habits. The effect of cell phones is ever more dangerous. The modern facilities available in the cell phones like cameras, bluetooth, MMS etc. have immensely contributed in leading the children and youth astray.
These have increased the number of road accidents as well as crimes. Thus, all these gadgets are more of a curse and less of a boon for the society.

These gadgets have endless effects on the individuals. The widespread use of these has resulted in a permanent
electrosmog i.e. the occurrence of artificial electromagnetic fields around people which results in heart and circulation problems, nervous and concentration problems and disturbed sleep.

Prolonged exposure to this also shows a significant increase in the damage of DNA of the cells, which could not always be repaired by the cells. Cell phones have thermal, genetic and carcinogenic effects on individuals. The radiation from the cell phones may lead to problems ranging from headache to brain tumour, may destroy the cell repair system, speed up the brain’s response time and trigger chemical processes in the body which may be harmful.

They have also been reported of inducing male sterility. The CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) screens on picture tubes of TVs, computers etc, exit PEMR (Pulsed Electromagnetic Radiations) which, at a close range, disturbs the balance of all living cells.

The harmful effects of PEMR exist all around the screen and even persists several hours after the gadget has been turned off, Prolonged exposure to CRT screens lead to abnormal general fatigue, neuropsychological disorders, loss of productivity, headache, insomnia, declining ability to concentrate and memories, aggression and even disturbances in the menstrual cycle.

The toxic chemicals entering into the body through the intoxicated groundwater lead to nervous disorders, high blood
pressure, damage to lungs, kidney and liver and may even cause cancer. Thus, these pose serious health hazards on the individuals.

An Issue of greatest concern : The hitech pollution is an issue of greatest concern because of the day to day increase in the number of hitech gadgets resulting in hitech or e-wastes. Every year nearly 2.2 million PCs, 3 million fax machines
and 6.5 million cell phones are thrown out. Most of them are improperly disposed of. Asia’s economy has been growing 8% annually resulting in the production of nearly 1,50,000 tonnes of e-waste each year. Secondly, neither have we any effective e-waste, recycling technology nor is there any law for the safe management of these wastes. Thus the pollution has been increasing rapidly. But, certain control measures can be taken to check the pollution.

Meanwhile, some of the leading electronic giants, realising this imminent problem, have voluntarily started programmes to take back old equipment with the objective of reusing and recycling whatever is worth, have also started researches to ensure that the future models are easier to recycle. Secondly, at an individual level, all should try to minimize the misuse of these gadgets particularly there should be limitations on the use of cell phones, TVs and computers especially by children. We should try to prevent unprotected CRT screens.

We should install an EMF Bioshield System set on each VDT (Video Display Terminals) which causes counter phase
resources and eliminates all harmful effects of PEMR. We should use cell phones with ALARA (As low As Reasonably
Achievable) levels of radiation, try to keep the cell phones away from the body and use earphones to keep the cell phones away from the head.

Conclusion : Hitech gadgets are necessary evils. They are environmental, social and hitech hazards, but still we are dependent on them as they have become a part of our existence. So, we should use them judiciously so as to prevent the dragon of pollution from engulfing our environment.

By Dr. Arundhati Devi

The Writer is a Director-Editor,
International Indecency
Prevention Movement, Cuttack

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