Greenpeace finds hazardous chemicals in PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii

Not content with prising open the iPhone in its hunt for toxic components, Greenpeace has dismantled the three big games consoles to see what unpleasant materials they contain. The resulting report, Playing Dirty, is out today. The upshot: the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii didn't break any laws, but -- as you'll discover -- they do contain dubious and arguably unnecessary chemicals.

The research reveals that the three together contain a mixture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), phthalates, beryllium and bromine. Bromine and beryllium are mainly a health issue for workers during disposal and recycling, while phthalates have the unwelcome honour of being linked to sexual reproduction problems -- especially in male mammals. Not something that gaming geezers will want to hear.

While Greenpeace points out all three are making an effort, the results from the charity's research centre at the University of Exeter show all three console makers could be cleaner. Click on to see how they fare up.