I am sorry to bump this one up, but I had an important question to ask in regards to this specific teardown. If this is the wrong place to ask, feel free to delete.
So, my question, is:
If an eftpos terminal were to be grinded up for decommission, would the airborne dust or the smoke caused by spot fires resulting from internal lithium batteries inside such units be dangerous to someones health?
Background:
For 3.5 years I worked for a company that did computer recycling. My role at the company was equipment testing, documentation and data wiping. However, for the last 1 year of my employment at this company, they rolled a larger shredding machine into the building, placed it next to my work bench, and decided to grind up eftpos terminals inside it. Many of these were the newer wireless models which contained battery packs plus an internal battery.
On any given day when the machine was in operation, the entire building was full of smoke, the fumes from the lithium was incredibly disturbing. So, I am interested in a bit of feedback, the units contain a lot of different things, the key chip is surrounded in a lattice of ceramics to avoid reverse engineering. I am told this key is programmed in a highly secure room and that all eftpos machines need to have this element destroyed before disposal.
The current:
It's been a handful of years since, and even though I am 38, my lung tests read as 70 years old. I don't smoke, do laps at the pool. Should I make the conclusion that damage has occurred? How significant?