TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence of excessive releases of metals from primitive e-waste processing in Guiyu, China
AU - Wong, Coby S.C.
AU - Duzgoren-Aydin, Nurdan S.
AU - Aydin, Adnan
AU - Wong, Ming Hung
N1 - Funding Information:
The work presented in this paper was supported by Group Research, Central Allocation of the Research Grants Council of the Government of Hong Kong (RGC HKBU 1/03C), Dr. Stephen S.F. Hui Trust Fund and University Development Fund of the University of Hong Kong. Sincere gratitude is expressed to Dr. S.C. Wu of the Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences of Hong Kong Baptist University for his assistance during field sampling. We thank Dr. X.D. Li and his team, especially Ms. Carman Ip and Mr. W.S. Lam, of the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for their analytical assistance. We would like to acknowledge Dr. J.D. Gu and Ms. Jessie Lai of the Department of Ecology and Biodiversity of the University of Hong Kong for their assistance.
PY - 2007/7
Y1 - 2007/7
N2 - Guiyu, China is infamous for its involvement in primitive e-waste processing and recycling activities. Freshwater samples were collected in and outside of Guiyu for dissolved metal analysis. It was found that dissolved metal concentrations were higher in Lianjiang and Nanyang River within Guiyu than the reservoir outside of Guiyu. Lianjiang was enriched with dissolved As, Cr, Li, Mo, Sb and Se, while Nanyang River had elevated dissolved Ag, Be, Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. Temporal distributions of the metals suggested recent discharges of metals attributable to a strong acid leaching operation of e-waste, where dissolved Ag, Cd, Cu and Ni (0.344 ± 0.014, 0.547 ± 0.074, 87.6 ± 3.0 and 93.0 ± 1.4 μg/L, respectively) were significantly elevated. Pb isotopic composition of dissolved Pb confirmed that more than one non-indigenous Pb were present in Lianjiang and Nanyang River. In summary, it was evident that the riverine environment of Guiyu was heavily impacted by e-waste related activities.
AB - Guiyu, China is infamous for its involvement in primitive e-waste processing and recycling activities. Freshwater samples were collected in and outside of Guiyu for dissolved metal analysis. It was found that dissolved metal concentrations were higher in Lianjiang and Nanyang River within Guiyu than the reservoir outside of Guiyu. Lianjiang was enriched with dissolved As, Cr, Li, Mo, Sb and Se, while Nanyang River had elevated dissolved Ag, Be, Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. Temporal distributions of the metals suggested recent discharges of metals attributable to a strong acid leaching operation of e-waste, where dissolved Ag, Cd, Cu and Ni (0.344 ± 0.014, 0.547 ± 0.074, 87.6 ± 3.0 and 93.0 ± 1.4 μg/L, respectively) were significantly elevated. Pb isotopic composition of dissolved Pb confirmed that more than one non-indigenous Pb were present in Lianjiang and Nanyang River. In summary, it was evident that the riverine environment of Guiyu was heavily impacted by e-waste related activities.
KW - China
KW - Dissolved metals
KW - E-waste
KW - Guiyu
KW - River
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34247895546&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envpol.2006.11.006
DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2006.11.006
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 17240013
AN - SCOPUS:34247895546
SN - 0269-7491
VL - 148
SP - 62
EP - 72
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
IS - 1
ER -