Characterization of air emissions and residual ash from open burning of electronic wastes during simulated rudimentary recycling operations

Abstract

Air emissions and residual ash samples were collected and analyzed during experiments of open, uncontrolled combustion of electronic waste (e-waste), simulating practices associated with rudimentary e-waste recycling operations. Circuit boards and insulated wires were handled separately to simulate processes associated with metal recovery. The average emissions of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDFs) were 92 ng toxic equivalency (TEQ)/kg [n = 2, relative standard deviation (RSD) = 98%] and 11 900 ng TEQ/kg (n = 3, RSD = 50%) of the initial mass of the circuit boards and insulated wire, respectively. The value for the insulated wire is about 100 times higher than that for backyard barrel burning of domestic waste. The emission concentrations of polybrominated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/PBDFs) from the combustion of circuit boards were 100 times higher than for their polychlorinated counterparts. Particulate matter (PM) sampling of the fl y ash emissions indicated PM emission factors of approximately 15 and 17 g/kg of the initial mass for the circuit boards and insulated wire, respectively. Fly ash samples from both types of e-waste contained considerable amounts of several metallic elements and halogens; lead concentrations were more than 200 times the United States regulatory limits for municipal waste combustors and 20 times those for secondary lead smelters. Leaching tests of the residual bottom ash showed that lead concentrations exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency landfi ll limits, designating this ash as a hazardous waste.

A preliminary investigation of unintentional POP emissions from thermal wire reclamation at industrial scrap metal recycling parks in China

“…1a clearly shows the PCDD/F congener profiles detected in flue gas and residual ash from thermal wire reclamation. This shows that OCDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD, OCDF and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF were the dominant congeners, and this is very similar to the congener profiles in flue gas reported by Gullett et al for the open burning of insulated wire [13]. The fingerprints from the residual ash in the study were similar at both sites and also similar to soil/ash and fly ash samples from open burning metal recovery sites [25,36].…”

“…Researchers have often noted that total PCDF concentrations in samples from combustion sources will be equal to or greater than total PCDD concentrations [13,37]. The PCDF to PCDD ratio (R DF/DD ) can indicate different PCDD/F formation mechanisms.…”

“…Currently, there is little information on PCDD/F emissions from commercial scrap wire recovery facilities in developed countries [12][13][14][15], and studies on environmental releases of PCDD/Fs from thermal wire reclamation developing countries are also scarce. Additionally, there is almost no information available on emissions to the air of dioxin like PCBs (dl-PCBs), PCNs, PeCBz and HxCBz from thermal wire reclamation.…”

Use of scalp hair as indicator of human exposure to heavy metals in an electronic waste recycling area

“…Although most countries have ratified the Basel Convention, which strictly controls the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes (including e-wastes), unregulated and even illegal export of e-waste still takes place to transition or developing countries such as China, India and Nigeria (United Nations Environment Programme, 2005). In these countries, rudimentary processes such as open burning and acid stripping, which are common practices to recover valuable compounds in e-waste, often result in the release of high levels of organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and toxic heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Cr, and Cu (Basel Action Network, 2002;Deng et al, 2006;Gullett et al, 2007;Leung et al, 2007;Li et al, 2007). Besides obvious health implications for the dismantling workers, the pollutants can also contaminate the surrounding environment and further be transported to other areas adjacent to the recycling centers, such as rice fields (Fu et al, 2008), soils (Leung et al, 2006), and rivers and sediment (Wong et al, 2007b).…”

Life cycle assessment of flame retardants in an electronics application

“…The total electricity consumption over the lifetime of (2011) b European Commission (2008a) c European Commission (2003) d European Commission (2002) e European Commission (2007) f OECD (2004) g Simonson et al (2000) h Cusack (2008) i Laboratory data ENFIRO project (see Electronic Supplementary Material) j Gullett et al (2007) the laptop amounts to 215 kWh. Further data can be found in the Electronic Supplementary Material.…”