LEDs – Latest Information

Two interesting LED stories this week. The first is a paper by Seong-Rin Lim et.al. on the Potential Enviromental Impacts of LEDs. The other is an article in LEDs Magazine discussing the sourcing of Rare Earth Metals.

The paper, published in Environmental Science and technology,downloadable PDF here is a basic look at the potential waste toxicity of LEDs at end of life disposal. This is the first paper that I have come across dealing with this issue that has generated a lot of comment to date.

The article in February’s LEDs Magazine subscribe here discusses the issue of rare earth metal supply, particularly for Phosphors. Currently the majority of this material is won in China that has now put export restrictions on the export of these materials however not on the export of finished or semi finished products using these materials. It seems China is set to corner the LED market in the same way that they have become the worlds dominating supplier of Compact Fluorescent lamps.

Kevan Shaw