Environmental contamination and health effects due to e-waste recycling

The digital age has been accompanied by a tsunami of E-waste exported from developed countries to developing countries and economies in transition around the world. Global attention to the problems of E-waste first began with the discovery of mountains of E-waste in the village of Guiyu of southeastern China over 15 years ago. Obsolete computers were primitively and crudely recycled, resulting in extensive levels of environmental contamination consisting of a cocktail of pollutants which included heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. The handling of E-waste became an emerging issue and thereafter problems similar to that of Guiyu became mirrored in other E-waste dumping grounds in other countries. This chapter reviews the contaminant levels in the environment and the adverse impacts on human health due to E-waste recycling.