Nintendo's Wii. Sony's PlayStation 3 Elite. Microsoft's Xbox 360. They promise a whole new generation of high-definition gaming, but when it comes to the crunch, it's the same old story. As our search for greener electronics continues, it was time for the game consoles to go to our labs for scientific analysis – and all of them tested positive for various hazardous chemicals.

Our analysis, published in our new report, Playing Dirty, detected the use of hazardous chemicals and materials such aspolyvinyl chloride (PVC), phthalates, beryllium and bromine indicative of brominated flame retardants (BFRs).

More information on our international site »

I can remember my first games console, the Atari 2600, a Christmas present in 1984. It seemed space age at the time, fake wood panel, RSI inducing joysticks, Pac man, Asteroids, I think I even played Pong on that thing, and for hours. I’m sure there was nothing green about it, I didn’t even understand boys, let alone the toxic chemicals lurking in my beloved games console.

But we’ve come a long way since Pac man, although I still don’t understand boys, I do know that games consoles don’t have to come with toxic chemicals. Nor should they contribute to the mountains of e-waste once kids tire of them a few months after Christmas.