May 21, 2008 - After successfully pressuring Apple to cut toxic materials from its iPhone, Greenpeace is taking aim at a new electronics product: gaming consoles. The group's latest report finds hazardous chemicals in the Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation, and Microsoft Xbox.

Greenpeace's new report, Playing Dirty (PDF), analyzes the components in all three gaming consoles, detecting polyvinyl chloride (PVC), phthalates, and beryllium, as well as evidence of brominated flame retardants (BFRs). These materials can be hazardous to human health both from direct exposure and as they enter the waste stream at the product's end of life, according to Greenpeace.

The report does note some progress on the part of manufacturers is minimizing toxics in some components:

"The Nintendo Wii managed quite well without using beryllium in its electrical contacts, and use of PVC and phthalates was limited. The PlayStation 3, meanwhile, included “bromine-free” circuit boards and the Xbox 360 used fewer brominated materials in its housing materials."

Greenpeace is encouraging consumers to pressure console manufacturers to further reduce the toxic materials in their products.

Greenpeace has been leaning on the electronics industry to use more environmental responsible materials, publishing an annual Guide to Greener Electronics (in which Nintendo scored a zero back in November).