People think that computers and other electronic devices are just [simply] being reused and recycled, but that is not always the case. Factories can only do so much and what occurs behind the scenes is mind boggling. Little does everyone know that these "recycled" valuables are risking the lives of other people. Take the electronic drop-off building in Wilmington Ma, for example. People stop by to drop off their old computers and other devices. The building then sends all of the electronics to a large distributing company. These electronics are sent to foreign countries where they contaminate the air, risk children's health and even ruin the country where it is being shipped to.

Mobile devices and other hardware get sent to a location names Guiyu, China. “The town of Guiyu in southern China's Guangdong province is one of the world's largest electronic waste dump sites. …(it contains) processing hard drives, mobile phones, computer screens and computers imported from around the globe”. It is estimated Guiyu earns over $75 million dollars a year from the processing of over 1.5 million tons of e-waste. The piles of waste have some of the most valuable, expensive items that buyers crave. A reporter Scott Pelley from the television show 60 Minutes discovered gangs that run the place and want to keep it secret for a few main reasons. One reason is that the air is overwhelmed with burning plastic and noxious metals which diminish the flow of oxygen, making it harder for workers to breathe. No person should be struggling everyday to breathe, especially when working. These toxic gases pollute the air which adds to disasters such as global warming. Ashes from these burning waste piles fall right into a river that runs through a small village nearby. Most elderly people and children who live in this village have a skin disease as a result of the polluted water.  Despite that workers have come to live with the conditions, some are still being critically affected such as children.

Children are becoming ill and dying as a result of these horrifying working conditions. Thousands of workers, including children beginning at the age of five, work to strip insulation from all wiring in an attempt to get tiny amounts of copper wire out. This can earn them a little bit of money which allows them to barely survive. The workers hands are either burnt to a crisp or completely torn up from having to peel these wires for hours. The workers often have to cover their faces with rags and cloths as an attempt to prevent carbon dioxide from over powering their lungs. Many die from this same issue of not being able to breathe. Women's pregnancies are six times more likely to end in miscarriage and seven out of ten children are born with 50% higher levels of lead in their blood than children born elsewhere. More than 80% of Guiyu children tested positive for zinc poisoning. People will also lose their lives from being attacked by other gangs throughout the wasteland. If a person retrieves a good amount of copper from the wires, other may become jealous and crazy which urges them to attack. This happens a lot in this electrical mayhem. The location of the field does matter, especially when it is damaging the environment around it.

Besides the atmosphere being completely destroyed, the cities surrounding Guiyu are too. The air causes many people to move away from the area causing unemployment, especially when the population is so large. “...if Guiyu’s operations were shut down, they would be continued elsewhere. Guiyu isn’t the problem; people of the world will still require disposal of their used electronics and suppliers will still pay for the recovered raw materials". Eventually, if this disposal of electronics increases, then the location will have to move or expand ruining other communities.

Computers and other electronic devices are not just simply being reused and recycled. They are being sent to electronic waste dumps in China which gets sent to foreign countries which contaminates the air, risks children's health and even ruins the country where it is being shipped to. This should not be happening especially in the day in age we are living in.