Environmental contamination from electronic waste recycling at Guiyu, southeast China

Abstract

The disposal, recycling, and part salvaging of discarded electronic devices such as computers, printers, televisions, and toys are now creating a new set of waste problems. This study is aimed at identifying the sources and quantifying the pollution levels generated from electronic waste (e-waste) activities at Guiyu, Guangdong Province, China, and their potential impacts on the environment and human health. The preliminary results indicate that total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil obtained from a printer roller dump site was 593 µg/kg dry weight (dry wt.) and in sediment from a duck pond, the PAH concentration was 514 µg/kg (dry wt.). Sediment from the Lianjiang River was found to be contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (743 µg/kg) at a level approaching three times the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines probable effect level of 277 µg/kg. Total monoto hepta-brominated diphenyl ether homologue concentrations (1140 and 1169 µg/kg dry wt.) in soils near dumping sites were approximately 10-60 times those reported for other polybrominated diphenyl ether-contaminated locations in the world. In-house study on the open burning of cable wires showed extremely high levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans resulting in 12 419 ng toxic equivalents (TEQ)/kg of waste input and 15 610 ng TEQ/kg for two separate tests, respectively, which were about three orders of magnitude higher than those for the open burning of household waste. High levels of Cu (712, 528, and 496 mg/kg), exceeding the new Dutch list action value, were determined for soil near the printer roller dumping area, sediment from Lianjiang River, and soil from a plastic burn site, respectively. A more thorough study is underway to elucidate the extent of contamination of toxic pollutants in different ecological compartments to establish whether these pollutants are bioaccumulated and biomagnified through food chains. Assessments of human health impacts from oral intake, inhalation, and dermal contact will be subsequently investigated.

On-site and off-site atmospheric PBDEs in an electronic dismantling workshop in south China: Gas-particle partitioning and human exposure assessment

“…The toxicological endpoints of concern for environmental levels of PBDEs are likely to be thyroid hormone disruption, neuro-developmental deficit, and cancer (Burreau et al, 1997;McDonald, 2002). PBDE pollution has been confirmed from recent studies that have observed PBDEs in a variety of environmental matrices, including water (Xu et al, 2009), soil Yang et al, 2008), sediment (Leung et al, 2006;Wong et al, 2007), air Li et al, 2008), fish ,and human blood Qu et al, 2007;Roosens et al, 2010).…”

Characterization of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hydroxylated and methoxylated PBDEs in soils and plants from an e-waste area, China

“…Due to the widely application of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in these electronic products, uncontrolled dismantling, acid treatment, and open burning of ewaste result in the emission of PBDEs into the ambient environment (Leung et al, 2006;Wong et al, 2007). Therefore, the growth of e-waste recycling industry particularly in the developing countries has drawn much attention as the source of environmental contamination with PBDEs (Betts, 2009;Leung et al, 2006;Ma et al, 2009).…”

High levels of heavy metals in rice (Oryzasativa L.) from a typical E-waste recycling area in southeast China and its potential risk to human health

“…The unregulated processing of E-waste usually recovers gold and other valuable metals by applying some simple techniques such as burning, melting, using acid chemical bath, and so on. These activities can cause severe pollution of highly toxic heavy metals (such as Cu, Cd, Pb and Hg) in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and even to the atmosphere (Deng et al, 2006;Leung et al, 2006). Heavy metals are non-biodegradable, thus persisting for long periods in environmental ecosystems.…”