Rambabu, U; Balaram, V; Ratheesh, R; Chatterjee, S; Babu, MK; Munirathnam, NR
Globally, the use of plastics in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and home appliances as alternatives to aluminum and steel has been increased rapidly. As a result, the sustainable recycling of plastics in the Indian informal sector has been complicated by hazardous additive substances. In plastics, lead and cadmium compounds are mainly applied as pigments and stabilizing agents. As per the directive of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), for all homogenous materials in the manufacture of various types of EEE, the application of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) is restricted to a maximum level of 1,000 mu g/g and especially cadmium to a maximum level of 100 mu g/g. In the present work, five electrical cables of various colors and gauges, available in the local market (Hyderabad, India), were chosen for a case study. As per the norms of IEC62321, Electrotechnical Products-Determination of Six Regulated Substances (Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent Chromium, Polybrominated Biphenlys, Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers), the prescreening using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer showed the presence of lead only in all cables against the six restricted substances with variable concentrations with color as well as thickness. The maximum lead content observed was similar to 31,000 mu g/g in black cables with a 2.5 mm(2) thickness. The measured lead content using EDXRF spectrometry has cross-checked with other well-established analytical techniques: Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), and the results were found to be comparable. The spiking studies of lead showed that the obtained results by EDXRF spectrometry were within the acceptable range (accuracy limit of 100 +/- 20 %). From the results obtained, it is concluded that the content of lead tested in all the electrical cables selected was more than 1,000 mu g/g and hence found to be noncompliant as per RoHS regulation.