Soil Contamination due to E-Waste Disposal and Recycling Activities: A Review with Special Focus on China

Zhang, Weihua; Wu, Yingxin; Simonnot, Marie-Odile

doi:10.1016/s1002-0160(12)60030-7

Cited by 107 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 152 publications

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“…Overall, these findings indicate that the industries investigated in this study might be PBDE pollution sources. The highest concentration (1.2 × 10 2 ng/g) was comparable to the pollution level in industrial areas of the Shenzhen, which has a median concentration of 346 ng/g (Qin et al, 2011;Xu et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2012).…”

Section: Pbdes In Soilmentioning

confidence: 89%

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil from three typical industrial areas in Beijing, China

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2013

Journal of Environmental Sciences

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Areas containing industrial facilities belonging to three different typical industries that may cause pollution by polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in Beijing, China were investigated. Specifically, the areas contained a solid waste incineration plant, a chemical factory, and a heat and power plant. Investigation of the pollution status of PBDEs in the surface soil from areas around these industries revealed the highest concentration of 42 PBDE congeners (118 ng/g, dry mass) at the solid waste incineration plant. In the other two plants, the highest concentrations were both 26 ng/g (dry mass). Among the PBDE homologues, the PBDE contamination at all sites showed similar congener compositions, with BDE 209 being the dominant congener. Our findings established the first contamination status of three typical industrial areas in Beijing. Furthermore, the total concentrations of 42 PBDE congeners tended to decrease as the distance from the investigated plants increased. Overall, these plants were identified as potential pollution sources of PBDEs in Beijing. Moreover, Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the major PBDE source in Beijing may be associated with the technical deca-BDE and penta-BDE mixture. Based on the data obtained in this preliminary investigation, further study of the potential of these sources to emit PBDEs in Beijing is warranted.

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Section: Pbdes In Soilmentioning

confidence: 89%

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil from three typical industrial areas in Beijing, China

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2013

Journal of Environmental Sciences

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“…Improper incineration and the burning of cables to recover metals is also performed creating different types of dioxins which are extremely toxic compounds that can be very difficult to remove [6]. Open acid bath procedures are also common where acid is used to strip metals from the electrical components [7].…”

Section: Current Practices In Developed and Developing Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Particulate matter from heavy metals in the air can increase risks of mortality and morbidity. This risk is most serious for workers, as the suspended solids tend to concentrate inside the e-waste dismantling workshop [6].…”

Section: Environmental Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Electronic Waste on Developing Countries

Jk¹,

Hoerning²,

Watry³

et al. 2017

Adv Recycling Waste Manag

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Although developed countries are currently producing large amounts of electronic waste (e-waste), the rate at which e-waste production is growing in developing countries is a major concern. The unsafe disposal of this e-waste is a growing problem and the environmental effects and human health hazards are very serious. A plan needs to be established to address this issue and in order to avoid these environmental and health consequences. This paper addresses the causes resulting in the exportation of e-waste to developing countries, the environmental and health effects resulting from this disposal, and possible mitigation strategies to address this growing environmental justice issue. Several recommendations are proposed. First, instead of trying to abolish the informal sector within these developing countries, it would be beneficial to take advantage of the collection network that the informal recycling sector has created. An incentive system will most likely be needed in order to establish the connection between the informal and formal recycling sectors. The informal recyclers will then be more willing to bring their collected e-waste to the formal facilities where it will be treated properly. Lastly, manufacturers and producers need to become more involved by implementing more successful take-back systems for their electronic devices so that they will be recycled properly at formal facilities that will mitigate the negative environmental and health impacts.

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“…Environmental and Health and Safety (EHS) concerns associated with e-waste recycling exist [4,20,21,23,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. However, informational gaps are present.…”

Section: E-plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential for Reuse of E-Plastics through Processing by Compression Molding

Mills¹,

Tatara²

2016

Challenges

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Abstract:The amounts of e-waste, consisting of metal (e-metals) and plastic (e-plastics) streams from electronic goods, are increasing in the United States and elsewhere. The e-metals waste streams are being recycled to a reasonable degree due to the value of precious metals. E-plastic waste streams currently are not recycled or reused to a significant extent. As a result, most e-plastics are disposed of by landfilling or thermal treatment, or sent overseas for alleged recycling or reuse, any of which could result in unsafe worker exposure and release into the environment. Two of the major barriers to e-plastics' reuse or recycling are the mixed plastic content and the presence in the e-plastics of flame retardants (FR), of which two classes in particular, the brominated flame retardants (BFR) and organo-phosphorus flame retardants (OPFR), have associated health concerns. The major goal of this project is to investigate the possibility of direct reuse of e-plastics in compression molding. Preliminary data generated have identified a molding procedure that yields remanufactured e-plastics having a tensile strength of 29.3 MPa. This moderate strength level is suspected to be due to inclusions of plastic bits that did not melt and internal voids from out-gassing. Handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was utilized to characterize elemental components in the e-plastics tested for compression molding. Several high "hits" for Br were found that could not be predicted visually. The preliminary XRF data for BFR and OPFR in this work are helpful for environmental and occupational hazard assessments of compression molding activities. Additionally, methods are suggested to characterize the metals, BFR, and OPFR content of the e-plastics using several different additional laboratory analytical techniques to determine the suitability for cost-effective and easy-to-use technologies.

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Soil Contamination due to E-Waste Disposal and Recycling Activities: A Review with Special Focus on China

Cited by 107 publications

References 152 publications

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil from three typical industrial areas in Beijing, China

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil from three typical industrial areas in Beijing, China

Effects of Electronic Waste on Developing Countries

Potential for Reuse of E-Plastics through Processing by Compression Molding

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