Should I be worried about potential health hazards from taking my old laptop apart?

I have an old laptop at my disposal that has a malfunctioning HDD in it. I already asked a question about the hard drive; now I have another question!

I would like to take the rest of the computer apart too.

My question now is, are there any known health hazards associated with the contents of a Dell computer that was manufactured in 2004?

My main concerns would be lead and such :)

P.S. I am not worried about doing damage to the computer, just me!

Solution 1:

It depends on what you do with it. Most modern systems are designed to be human if not user serviceable, and anything toxic should be noted and come with a great big warning. If you want to cannibalise parts, you should face few issues.

I've taken apart systems and in general, unless you break something, normal precautions like washing your hands before eating (with soap, and scrub well, like a civilized person!) should be enough.

If you break anything, all bets are off. Notably, if you're using a ccfl display, the tubes contain mercury, but you'd pretty much need to disassemble the LCD and then fat finger the tubes in that for that to happen.

Lead based solder is probably not going to immediately kill you unless ingested in quantity. There's an epic answer here that goes into that in detail - basically unless you eat it, you should be fine. Inhaling lead fumes isn't a great idea, but may not harm you too much you unless you make it a habit (in which case you have other issues).

While the li-ion cells in your laptop are probably not something you want on fire, in many cases you can carefully disassemble the cells and salvage them, DO NOT OPEN INDIVIDUAL CELLS, SET THEM ON FIRE, OR INGEST THEM. They're a standard type used in many led torchlights and powerbanks (18650) and if you weren't too picky, you can get cheap enclosures that would let you USB charge one or more of them. I'd warn, unlike proper 18650 cells they don't come with overcharge protection.

To be sure get your hands on the manual, and check for ROHS and other related environmental information. In addition, dispose of of your victim in a safe, environmentally conscious manner, in accordance to local regulations. If possible, see if you have a local electronics recycling program. While your old laptop may be harmless to you, improper disposal can have wide reaching impacts on the world you live in.

Solution 2:

There is, as far as I can remember, not any health hazards as long as you don't open your battery and power adapter. Which respectively can be toxic or give you an electric shock.