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Congratulations!
You have just purchased a TCO'99 approved and labelled product! Your choice has provided you
with a product developed for professional use. Your purchase has also contributed to reducing
the burden on the environment and also to the further development of environmentally adapted
electronics products.
This product meets the requirements for the TCO'99 scheme which provides for an international
environmental and quality labelling labelling of personal computers. The labelling scheme was
developed as a joint effort by the TCO(The Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees),
Svenska Naturskyddsforeningen(The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation), Statens
Energimyndighet(The Swedish National Energy Administration) and SEMKO AB.
The requirements cover a wide range of issuse: environment, ergonomics, usability, reduction of
electric and magnetic fields, energy consumption and electrical safety.
Why do we have environmentally labelled computers?
In many countries, environmental labelling has become an established method for encouraging
the adaptation of goods and services to the environment. The main problem, as far as computers
and other electronics equipment are concerned, is that environmentally harmful substances are
used both in the products and during their manufacture. Since it is not so far possible to
satisfactorily recycle the majority of electronics equipment, most of these potentially damaging
substances sooner or later enter nature.
There are also other characteristics of a computer, such as energy consumption levels, that are
important from the viewpoints of both the work (internal) and natural (external) environments.
Since all methods of electricity generation have a negative effect on the environment (e.g. acidic
and climate-influencing emissions, radioactive waste), it is vital to save energy. Electronics
equipment in offices is often left running continuously and thereby consumes a lot of energy.
What does labelling involve?
The environmental demands has been developed by Svenska Naturskyddsforeningen (The
Swedish Society for Nature Conservation). These demands impose restrictions on the presence
and use of heavy metals, brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, CFCs(freons)and
chlorinated solvents, among other things. The product must be prepared for recycling and the
manufacturer is obliged to have an environmental policy which must be adhered to in each
country where the company implements its operational policy.
The energy requirements include a demand that the computer and/or display, after a certain
period of inactivity, shall reduce its power consumption to a lower level in one or more stages.
The length of time to reactivate the computer shall be reasonable for the user.
Below you will find a brief summary of the environmental requirements met by this product. The
complete environmental criteria document may be ordered from:
TCO Development
SE-114 94 Stockholm, Sweden
Fax: +46 8 782 92 07
Email (Internet):
development@tco.se
Current information regarding TCO'99 approved and labelled products may also be obtained via
the Internet, using the address:
http://www.tco-info.com/
Environmental requirements
Flame retardants
Flame retardants are present in printed circuit boards, cables, wires, casings and housings. Their
purpose is to prevent, or at least to delay the spread of fire. Up to 30% of the plastic in a
computer casing can consist of flame retardant substances. Most flame retardants contain
bromine or chloride, and those flame retardants are chemically related to another group of
environmental toxins, PCBs. Both the flame retardants containing bromine or chloride and the
PCBs are suspected of giving rise to severe health effects, including reproductive damage in fish-
eating birds and mammals, due to the bio-accumulative* processes. Flame retardants have been
found in human blood and researchers fear that disturbances in foetus development may occur.
The relevant TCO'99 demand requires that plastic components weighing more than 25 grams
must not contain flame retardants with organically bound bromine or chlorine. Flame retardants
are allowed in the printed circuit boards since no substitutes are available.
Cadmium**
Cadmium is present in rechargeable batteries and in the colour-generating layers of certain
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