Contamination? (heavy metals or other dangerous substances)

[beingthourough]

Hi, I found this great forum while googling for an answer to my issue... I am trying to be thorough in my research without giving in to useless paranoia... Add to this some great mother-guilt and I can't decide what to do! My friends and family told me I have nothing to worry about! I am hoping to find some opinions here!

I washed my cell phone (nokia 2720) in hot water in the washer with my baby's clothes (and my jeans obviously) and then put the whole bunch into the dryer (luckily, it didn't explode!). The water in the washer was extremely hot, and the dryer was on high. It's a washer that connects to the sink and that may use the same hose for water intake and for dirty water (not sure about that, but regardless...). The clothes and the cell phone stayed in the washer for about 4 hours and for 2 days in the dryer.

Would you keep using the clothes and the appliances? Why or why not?

It seems clear that there are heavy metals in cell phones, probably including lead (the battery doesn't seem to have leaked but its surface is damaged and covered in white stuff, but I am also concerned about the other parts of the phone - they also contain nasty stuff). Since the heavy metals leach into soils with rainwater and other water sources - that's why they should be recycled properly - I am worried that they leached into the clothes and more importantly into the appliances and that they will keep transferring to other clothes. I would like to read some opinions with some facts, sources, references or other such stuff (as opposed to my friends and relatives just saying that it's okay).

Thanks!

[stik]

I would only replace the phone.  I can't afford to get new appliances every time I make a mistake.

That said, I doubt that there is any chemical residue left on anything you washed, and I am even more certain that anything hazardous will be gone if you wash the clothes again.  Clothes are permeable, and nothing at all like soils or groundwater.  All kinds of residue wash out.  

You can also be assured that your washer doesn't use the same hose for intake and drainage.  It can't drain back up the faucet.

[Honey693]

If you're that worried about it why do you even have a cell phone?  And no, you do not need to replace thousands of dollars worth of objects.  Just no.