[LINK] What's wrong with Halogen?

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

You asked the wrong question. The question should have been: What's 
wrong with the Halogens.

The Halogens is a group of elements, including: fluorine, chlorine, 
bromine and iodine.

 From Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen>

Halogens are highly reactive, and as such can be harmful or lethal to 
biological organisms in sufficient quantities. This high reactivity is 
due to the atoms being highly electronegative due to their high 
effective nuclear charge. They can gain an electron by reacting with 
atoms of other elements. Fluorine is one of the most reactive elements 
in existence, attacking otherwise inert materials such as glass, and 
forming compounds with the heavier noble gases. It is a corrosive and 
highly toxic gas. The reactivity of fluorine is such that if used or 
stored in laboratory glassware, it can react with glass in the presence 
of small amounts of water to form silicon tetrafluoride (SiF4). Thus 
fluorine must be handled with substances such as Teflon (which is itself 
an organofluorine compound), extremely dry glass, or metals such as 
copper or steel which form a protective layer of fluoride on their surface.

The high reactivity of fluorine means that once it does react with 
something, it bonds with it so strongly that the resulting molecule is 
very inert and non-reactive to anything else. For example, Teflon is 
fluorine bonded with carbon.

Both chlorine and bromine are used as disinfectants for drinking water, 
swimming pools, fresh wounds, spas, dishes, and surfaces. They kill 
bacteria and other potentially harmful microorganisms through a process 
known as sterilization. Their reactivity is also put to use in 
bleaching. Sodium hypochlorite, which is produced from chlorine, is the 
active ingredient of most fabric bleaches and chlorine-derived bleaches 
are used in the production of some paper products.

On 19/04/2010 2:31 PM, Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
> Continuing my quest to save the world,
> RFC: Business Imperatives for Green ICT
> <http://www.ramin.com.au/itgovernance/green-ICT-governance-imperatives.shtml>
>
> I just came across:
>    
>> In the first quarter of 2009, ASUS will become one of the pioneers in the IT industry with the launch of halogen-free processes across its major product portfolio. Products from its component to system product lines include: motherboards, notebooks, Eee PC, LCD monitors, graphic cards, servers and mobile phones. ASUS will expend massive efforts to phase in the Halogen-free process dependent upon the availability of economically viable and safe substitutes. In addition, ASUS will invest in phasing in these processes in 2009. The first Halogen-free products in different product line include: the VX5 notebook, the P5Q Deluxe motherboard, the EAH3650 Silent graphics card, the VK193T LCD monitor, the P565 handheld, the Z8PE-D12X serverboard, and the Eee PC™ 900A. ASUS will continue to introduce more Halogen-free models to its portfolio.
>>      
> <http://green.asus.com/english/default.aspx?page=post&IDno=106&nKind=news>
>
> Marghanita
>    


-- 

Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Canberra Australia
brd at iimetro.com.au