Three Safe Lead Products And How They Can Be Recycled When You Are Finished With Them
Posted on: 12 May 2016
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Lead is a controversial element because its properties make it such an ideal, anti-corrosive material to work with on the one hand, but it's a known carcinogen on the other. However, there are many lead products that are safe for you to use. When you have finished using the following lead products, there are also ways in which you can recycle them to keep the environment safe too.
Batteries
Car batteries and some batteries used for powering your favorite electronic devices are all filled with lead (in some form or other). Because the lead is encased, it cannot hurt you. When the batteries are burnt out and/or simply do not receive and collect electrical charges anymore, they need to be carefully recycled. Most cities offer a battery collection dump site where you can take your used batteries and drop them off. Then these sites process the used batteries in ways that carefully remove the lead from the rest of the batteries' hulls and send the lead to battery manufacturers where it can be reused to make new batteries.
Lead Crystal TVs
Many TVs are made with lead crystals or lead screens. The lead crystals and lead in the screens of these TVs are bound in a molecular structure with other substances, so you need never worry about it causing you or your family any harm. After years of enjoying a TV, there are a couple of ways you can safely recycle it so that it does not end up in a landfill and affect the environment around it. If the TV still works well, you can sell it, donate it to an impoverished family, or give it to a charity who can then give the TV to a family that may want it or need it. If the TV no longer works at all, there are recycling centers for electronics that accept TVs and computers. These centers break the devices down by parts and components, and then send the parts to the appropriate recycling plant where everything from the hard plastic casings to the lead glass screens are melted down and reforged to make new products.
Lead Shields for Radiation Protection
Many doctors' and dentists' offices, as well as hospitals, have lead aprons and lead shields for their staff and patients to protect them from excess radiation during an X-ray. Without this positive use of lead, X-rays simply would not be possible because the health risks might be too great. If you are a patient, you need not worry about lead contamination because the lead is encased in a heavy layers of canvas and vinyl to make it safe. These aprons and shields are regularly inspected for rips and tears, and if there is any damage, they are immediately disposed of. It is important to note that these healthcare locations recycle these devices too; they have their own medical supply and recycling facilities that help them and to which the devices are sent once they are damaged.
For more information, contact a local company like Nuclear Lead Co., Inc.