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The representatives of Greenpeace observed the materials that the three companies used in production of their game consoles: Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3), Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. After the examination the body concluded that despite the fact that all companies activate within the frame of the European laws, their console still feature potentially dangerous materials, which Greenpeace considers need to be replaced. It added that the environment policies of Nintendo were "non-existent".

"Nintendo doesn't have any environmental policies," outlined Zeina Al-Hajj, who holds the position of coordinator at Greenpeace's International Toxic Campaign. "We were shocked with Nintendo; it was our biggest surprise," she added.

It is worth mentioning that currently Nintendo is situated at the bottom of Greenpeace's list, where the organization evaluates the level of "green" technology applied by companies worldwide. Greenpeace calls all tech companies to act instantly for getting rid of toxic chemicals from products.

According to the information presented in Greenpeace's report, both Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Microsoft Xbox 360 featured "very high" amounts of phthalates, which are hazardous chemicals applied in order to "soften" flexible materials such as wires and cable coverings. The regulations of European Union prohibit the use of these chemicals in toy production, but games consoles do not fall under toy's category.

"We see a gap there. For us this is still a toy. And whether or not it's a toy, we do not want these chemicals in our products," stated Ms Al-Hajj. Greeppeace's report also mentions that the three popular games consoles contain such dangerous chemicals as bromine (used as a flame retardant) and beryllium (found in PS3 and Xbox 360). The latter is a chemical that is linked to lung cancer. During the recycling processes the plants that make games consoles create dust and fumes that are hazardous for humans. However, beryllium is not considered dangerous and is not prohibited by the EU law.

A spokesman for Nintendo stated: "We fully comply with all the necessary EU Directives on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances aimed at environmental protection and consumer health and safety. Furthermore, in order to ensure our products are safe for use by young children we also take into consideration the standards applicable to toys."

The United Nations Environment Programme provides information that yearly 50 tons of potentially hazardous e-waste is emitted. Greenpeace is concerned about the fact that old consoles cannot be recycled and thus are thrown away causing pollution of the environment. The organization called games consoles makers to use materials that in future would be recycled and used in further production. According to the spokesman for Sony, the company entered into a group together with Braun, HP and Electrolux, in order to create the European Recycling Platform.

The software giant, Microsoft, obliged to get rid of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from its products by 2010. It's worth mentioning that PVC features such hazardous chemicals as phthalates, and brominated flame retardants (BFR).

Nintendo's representative also promised to eliminate PVC from future products, however, they did not specify the time when the company is going to take actions.

Sony was criticized due to the fact that it did not remove polyvinyl chloride as well as brominated flame retardants from its consoles, at the same time promising that it was going to eliminate them in its mobile products.

"Sony has a very good record in our ranking guide. They have committed to eliminating these chemicals from mobile devices. But why are we finding them in such high percentages in a console? This is a tool used by children in our homes," commented Ms Al-Hajj.

"None of these chemicals exist in Sony's Vaio laptop. So if they can do it for a laptop, why can't they push this for the console also?" she added.

According to Ms Al-Hajj, the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive is currently quite weak. And it is not enough in order to monitor the electronics industry.

There were no comments from Microsoft regarding the findings presented in Greenpeace's report.