Greenpeace is continuing its attack against game consoles with a new report,"Playing Dirty" (PDF). Greenpeace says its scientific analysis - carried out in its own labs - detected hazardous chemicals and materials such as polyvinyl chloride, phthalates, beryllium and bromine indicative of brominated flame retardants in Wii, Sony's PlayStation 3 Elite and Microsoft's Xbox 360.
But the tests also showed that each manufacturer had avoided or reduced uses of individual hazardous substances in certain materials within their consoles. For example, the Nintendo Wii managed quite well without using beryllium in its electrical contacts, and use of PVC and phthalates was limited. The PlayStation 3, meanwhile, included "bromine-free" circuit boards and the Xbox 360 used fewer brominated materials in its housing materials.
In its November 2007 electronics report, Greenpeace slammed Nintendo and the game consoles market as a whole.
The organization also asked gamers to write game console makers "and let them know what you expect of them in making their products cleaner and greener." The move is a continuation of a campaign launched in December to get gamers to persuade Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft to make their products greener.
