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    are cracked lcd's dangerous???

    Discussion in 'Asus' started by googlei, Jul 10, 2010.

  1. googlei

    googlei Notebook Consultant

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    I accidental cracked a laptop lcd, is it dangerous, also do lcd's degrade not the back light the actual lcd.

    -Thanks in advance
     
  2. Chastity

    Chastity Company Representative

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    they can contain mercury
     
  3. Chet L.

    Chet L. Notebook Guru

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    I believe the mercury is in the back light if it is back lit by fluorescent tubes and there is only a danger if the tube is broken. If it is back lit by LED there is no mercury.
     
  4. googlei

    googlei Notebook Consultant

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    Am not actually talking about the back light am talking about the actual lcd the liquid crystals.

    -Thanks in advance
     
  5. scarletvw

    scarletvw Notebook Consultant

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    Well I wouldn't be licking it? but you should be fine, just wash your hands if any of it gets on you. But if you're in california it may cause cancer.
     
  6. DCx

    DCx Banned!

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    Nah, not any more dangerous than eating at McDonalds. Which is to say, a little, but life is dangerous and we all die eventually. You'll probably die later (rather than sooner) by avoiding chemicals in general, and the LCD oil ... well, yeah. Avoid it. But don't worry about it... Do you worry when you get gasoline on your hands? Well ... it's about the same thing.
     
  7. David

    David NBR Random Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    Mercury is only used in LCD screens and if you're using newer laptops with LED panels, you should be safe. That said, LCD panels have varying quantities of mercury depending on their specification such as size and brightness. Typically, laptop LCDs will have anywhere from 5 to 50mg of elemental mercury in vapor form. So for the sake of simplicity, let's say you shattered your 17.1" LCD panel (all glass tubes that holds the low-pressure mercury vapor are cracked) and that 50mg of mercury is leaked into your room. Now, I'm not a chemist nor a toxicologist expert, but assuming that you're dumb enough to enclose yourself in that room with all windows shut and inhale every bit of the air of which has been saturated by the mercury, I would assume this can't be good since the allowable intake of methylmercury (elemental) is only 0.1 mcg of mercury per kilogram per day according to the EPA.

    Another interesting point is that arsenic is also used in the glass manufacturing process in most LCDs. But unless you're picking the shattered glass debris, I believe you should be safe from arsenic poisoning.

    As far as LCD degradation goes (and pertaining to toxic chemicals), LCDs emit mercury throughout their life-cycle. According to the EPA, about 7.21mg of mercury is emitted. ( Source). However, since this is the total emission spanned across many years of use, I would like to assume this would still be safe for consumers.
     
  8. googlei

    googlei Notebook Consultant

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    I am actually talking about the lcd and NOT the back light, also methylmercury is elemental mercury mixed with carbon which is 100 times worse then elemental mercury and final the document provided says that 7.21mg of mercury is emitted from the POWER GENERATION of a CRT, in thus words the power plants are emitting the mercury not the actual unit.

    -Thanks for the answer

    -Googlei