Green group scores pols, cops for smashing TV sets

MANILA, Philippines - Politicians and police officials should stop breaking television sets confiscated in campaigns against the illegal “video karera” gambling game, an environment watchdog said yesterday.

“While it seems to make a good photo op for government and police authorities, the crushing, dumping or burning of TVs and other gambling paraphernalia is extremely injurious to human and the environment and sends the wrong message about the management of unwanted electronics,” said Thony Dizon, coordinator of EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect.

He said old analog television sets contain substances belonging to the World Health Organization’s 10 “chemicals of major public health concern,” the Stockholm Convention’s persistent organic pollutants, as well as the Philippine “Priority Chemicals List.”

Among these poisonous substances are lead, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper and mercury, and flame-retardant chemicals such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

Analog TVs contain huge quantities of lead, a toxic chemical that interferes with brain development, ranging from four to eight pounds that are mostly found in the cathode ray tubes.

Dizon said the improper destruction of these television sets causes the chemicals to pollute the air, soil and water.

The confiscated gambling equipment should have been sent to government-accredited hazardous waste recycling and treatment facilities where they can be properly dismantled to prevent and reduce toxic releases into the environment, he said.