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this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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I don't want to ruin your fun, but the last time I saw a post like this on reddit, the top comment was: "Don't open hard drives. They contain micro particles from wear and tear, that are as dangerous as asbestos."
Edit: I found the post and comment. The issue mentioned was the cobalt. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/17il3i3/comment/k6veo9c/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Edit2: I went and searched a bit. This meta-analysis says they found no increased cancer risk for exposure to cobalt particles. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230021001288
If your hard drive has dust it would've failed a long time ago. They are designed to be extremely clean. The head is like a 747 flying an inch above the ground. It sounds like an urban myth to scare people.
I did a quick bit of research on this, and I wasn't really able to find anything to corroborate this. I'd be interested to know if there is a proper source to this though
Edit: there can be some concern for those metal particles, although this is no different for any metal dust by the looks of things https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/do-old-hard-drives-contain-toxic-materials.1623183/#post-11646780
The posting essentially says there is no risk than tosses out mercury and lead vapors which don't exist in a HDD. Then it talks about the lead in solder. You'd have to vigorously rub and handle the solder on circuit boards to get any amount on your skin worth worrying about and then you just wash your hands. That risk is true of all boards that don't use low or lead free solder. The whole comment is very hypothetical.
Unfortunately, I don't have a proper source. When I saw this post, the warning from reddit came to my mind and from the answers here I was surprised how many people open drives.
I assume, it is per hard drive such a negligible amount, that it could theoretically matter over a long time if you open a lot but that there is probably not a single medical proven case and the warning from reddit was overly cautious.
Edit: I found the post and comment. The issue mentioned was the cobalt. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/17il3i3/comment/k6veo9c/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Edit2: I went and searched a bit. This meta-analysis says they found no increased cancer risk for exposure to cobalt particles. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230021001288
Hey, I just want to say you're a real one for actually coming back with the Reddit comment and even a source essentially debunking what you said. This is why I love Lemmy, thank you.
I have never seen any dust or particles, they are pristine looking inside and no film or anything when touching internals. But I did some checking, drives have an air filter to catch wear particles to preserve clean head to disc contact, so those micro particles are hopefully trapped in the filter, and the risk is super low because of the tiny amount available, compared to clouds of asbestos dust in a home reno.
If they were remotely any threat to human population it would of been banned.