Environmentalist group Greenpeace recently released a document entitled "Playing Dirty: Analysis of hazardous chemicals and materials in games console components", which spoke out against the different video game console manufacturers and their negligence in rolling out environmentally friendly hardware.

Greenpeace explained how Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft failed to ensure that their current line of consoles were free of unsafe chemicals and materials. Previous claims from the three companies mentioned that they were taking steps to make sure that the production of their respective hardware conformed with Greenpeace standards, however the environmentalist group begged to differ.

The report detailed the various dangerous components all three major consoles (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii) were built from. Materials such as beryllium were found in Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3, which has been linked to lung cancer when recycled. Softening agents known as phthanlates, which are banned in various European products, were also found on both consoles.

Nintendo has been on Greenpeace's watch list for a long time already. The company was previously noted to have no environmental policies regarding their products and was listed at the bottom of the group's worldwide assessment of technology-based companies. Greenpeace invited the companies to put forward various return and recycle policies to compensate for the lack of methods to properly dispose and recycle game consoles.

Zeina Al-Hajj, Greenpeace's International Toxic Campaign coordinator, had this to say regarding the matter: "This is an industry that is changing our way of life and if it does not take these challenges upon themselves to be more green we are going to be in deep trouble very, very soon."

If you're interested in reading the report compiled by Greenpeace, you can read it by clicking on the source link we've provided below.