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Intel to boost production of unleaded chip sets

Posted on: Thursday, 8 April 2004, 06:00 CDT

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- For environmental reasons, Intel Corp. plans to reduce the amount of lead in its microprocessors and chip sets by 95 percent starting this year.

The move, announced Wednesday, is targeted at reducing lead that is released into the environment after computers and other devices are tossed out. Ingestion or inhalation of the heavy metal by children has been attributed to behavioral disorders, brain damage and death.

Intel has already removed the lead from its flash memory products, which are primarily used in consumer electronics such as cell phones. Its latest plans involve microprocessors and chip sets, which handle the flow of data between the processor and the rest of a computer.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip maker, the world's biggest, said it is working with the rest of the industry to remove the remaining amount of lead that's needed to connect the processor's core with its packaging.

"Our goal has been to develop a total solution that addresses the needs and concerns of our customers and suppliers, from the package materials to motherboard manufacturing," said Nasser Grayeli, vice president and director of Intel's technology and manufacturing group.

Lead has been used for more than a century in electrical devices, but its effects on health have spurred efforts to find a safer replacement.

A European Union directive requires manufacturers to ban the use of six specified hazardous substances, including lead, in 2006.

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition applauded Intel's decision but said the computer industry has a long way to go before becoming environmentally friendly.

"There are over 1,000 chemicals that go into making a computer and many of them are hazardous," said Sheila Davis, director of the group's Clean Computer Campaign. "We don't know what the overall impact of all those chemicals is on the environment."

Other chip makers are also getting the lead out. National Semiconductor Corp. announced Wednesday that 90 percent of its products are lead-free and it expects all its offerings to be free of the toxic metal by the end of 2004.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company is a supplier of analog and mixed-signal chips for computer displays, audio systems and other applications.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc., another maker of microprocessors and flash memory, also is participating in efforts to remove as much lead as possible from its products.

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