Release by environmental processes such as weathering by UV/water is possible (e.g. bicycle), but only relevant if material is degraded and not covered with paint/other material. The coating of the material may also degrade with time, thus even if not initially damaged, this coating may only delay the environmental release. In the post-consumer GSK1120212 supplier phase smaller equipment most likely ends up in household waste (incineration, landfill, depending on region). Larger equipment such as a bicycle will probably first go back to the dealer, then probably also into normal waste (incineration, landfill). There is a low potential for these materials to be used for

unintended purposes in the post-consumer phase, for example as components of art work or as structural supports in less affluent economies. Many new electronic devices such as laptops, cell phones and computer tablets are small and are frequently contacted by the consumer.

These devices may be positioned on the body during use such as a laptop, or held in the hand(s) for prolonged periods of time (e.g. cell phones). These devices will contain flame retardant chemicals in the plastic casing that come in contact with the consumer. Carbon nanotubes could be used as flame retardants (FRs) in plastic composites (Chattopadhyay and Webster, 2009) although there is limited evidence of their current use. Consumer contact may be extensive and in addition to abrasion from the manual contact with the device, skin contact and chemically induced release 5-Fluoracil may also occur. Polymer fragments were detected in household dust and were found to be transferred to the dust via physical Venetoclax manufacturer processes such as abrasion from polymers (Webster et al., 2009). Given the greater contact between consumers and electronics that may contain CNTs, the potential exposures should be explored. Routes of exposure and uptake such as through ingestion or the skin, induced by sweat/saliva, may be more likely due to the changes in electronics and use patterns. The particles may also be released into the air from where they can be inhaled directly, or they accumulate

in household dust from where they may be inhaled or picked up by small children and ingested through hand-to-mouth activity. Release by environmental processes is not expected under normal operation. In the post-consumer phase, the fate of the CNTs depends on the recycling schemes that are implemented in a region/country. Without recycling, the equipment will end up in household waste (see scenarios 8 and 9 on incineration or landfilling). If e-waste recycling is implemented and functioning recycling schemes are available, the equipment enters the e-waste recycling stream. Issues that need to be answered here are in which fraction the CNT-composite ends up or if the CNT-composite is removed before shredding. During the windmill blade use phase consumers will not be exposed to any CNTs.