Chemistry - Do hard drive platters contain toxic chemicals?

Solution 1:

I never opened a newer 2.5" hard disk, but I've read that these may contain glass platters.

However, I've seen and touched stacks of platters from old 3.5" hard disks - a friend of mine makes clocks from hard disk cases.

These platters have an aluminium core, on which another metallic layer, that serves as a kind of primer, and the magnetic material are applied by sputtering. The surface is covered by a protective polymer layer.

Platters have been drilled or cut in a lot of electronics projects, e.g. to make hdd clocks based on the persistence of vision effect. Apart from the usual safety rules for metal works (protect your eyes, don't touch the hot drill, etc.) one only has to make sure that the rotating platter is properly mounted and doesn't start flying around!

When the platters aren't mechanically altered and only painted, there is even less danger. The platters are not toxic and do not even have sharp corners - it is safe to keep them around in the living room.

On a side note, the magnets from these hard disks are more dangerous. These magnets are pretty strong and when playing with them, you can easily jam your fingers between them ;)

Solution 2:

Discs from 3.5" drives are perfectly safe. They are made of a majority of aluminum, with hints of platinum, palladium, and other precious metals (not a lot though — the Pt coating is only a few atoms thick).

Stay away from 2.5" drives though. Their platters are made of some sort of glass, and if you put too much pressure on them, they will shatter with razor-sharp chunks of glass flying everywhere.