TY - JOUR
T1 - Toxic chemicals from uncontrolled e-waste recycling
T2 - Exposure, body burden, health impact
AU - Lin, Siyi
AU - Ali, Muhammad Ubaid
AU - Zheng, Chunmiao
AU - Cai, Zongwei
AU - Wong, Ming Hung
N1 - This work was sponsored by Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control (No. 2017B030301012 ), and State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control. Additional support was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41890852 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/3/15
Y1 - 2022/3/15
N2 - Uncontrolled electronic-waste (e-waste) recycling processes have induced serious environmental pollution and human health impacts. This paper reviewed studies on the wide range of toxic chemicals through the use of primitive recycling techniques, their transfer to various ecological compartments, and subsequent health impacts. Results indicated that local food items were heavily polluted by the pollutants emitted, notably heavy metals in vegetables, rice, fish and seafood, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in livestock. Dietary exposure is the most important exposure pathway. The associations between exposure to e-waste and high body burdens of these pollutants were evident. It seems apparent that toxic chemicals emitted from e-waste activities are causing a number of major illnesses related to cardiovascular, digestive and respiratory systems, according to the information provided by a local hospital (Taizhou, an e-waste recycling hot spot in China). More epidemiological data should be made available to the general public. It is envisaged that there are potential dangers of toxic chemicals passing on to the next generation via placental transfer and lactation. There is a need to monitor the development and health impacts of infants and children, born and brought up in the e-waste sites.
AB - Uncontrolled electronic-waste (e-waste) recycling processes have induced serious environmental pollution and human health impacts. This paper reviewed studies on the wide range of toxic chemicals through the use of primitive recycling techniques, their transfer to various ecological compartments, and subsequent health impacts. Results indicated that local food items were heavily polluted by the pollutants emitted, notably heavy metals in vegetables, rice, fish and seafood, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in livestock. Dietary exposure is the most important exposure pathway. The associations between exposure to e-waste and high body burdens of these pollutants were evident. It seems apparent that toxic chemicals emitted from e-waste activities are causing a number of major illnesses related to cardiovascular, digestive and respiratory systems, according to the information provided by a local hospital (Taizhou, an e-waste recycling hot spot in China). More epidemiological data should be made available to the general public. It is envisaged that there are potential dangers of toxic chemicals passing on to the next generation via placental transfer and lactation. There is a need to monitor the development and health impacts of infants and children, born and brought up in the e-waste sites.
KW - Environmental compartments
KW - Epidemiological data
KW - Food
KW - Human tissues
KW - Persistent toxic substances
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119439806&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127792
DO - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127792
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34802823
AN - SCOPUS:85119439806
SN - 0304-3894
VL - 426
JO - Journal of Hazardous Materials
JF - Journal of Hazardous Materials
M1 - 127792
ER -
