Spatial Distribution of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Dibenzofurans in Soil and Combusted Residue at Guiyu, an Electronic Waste Recycling Site in Southeast China

Abstract

Surface soils and combusted residue from a village located in southeast China, which has been intensely involved in the dismantling and "recycling" of computer parts (e-waste) for the past decade, were analyzed for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). Total PBDE concentrations were highest in combusted residue of plastic chips and cables collected from a residential area (33,000-97,400 ng/g, dry wt), in soils from an acid leaching site (2720-4250 ng/g, dry wt), and a printer roller dump site (593-2890 ng/g, dry wt). BDE-209 was the most dominant congener (35-82%) among the study sites indicating the prevalence of commercial Deca-BDE, however signature congeners from commercial Penta- and Octa-BDE were also found. PCDD/F concentrations were also highest in soil from the acid leaching site (12,500-89,800 pg/g, 203-1100 pg WHO-TEQ/g, dry wt) and in combusted residue (13,500-25,300 pg/g, 84.3-174 pg WHO-TEQ/g, dry wt) and were comparable to PCDD/F levels of some open dumping sites in Asian developing countries. Of the e-waste activities, acid leaching and open burning emitted the highest concentrations of PBDEs and PCDD/Fs. This study is among the very few studies dealing with the important issue of pollution generated from crude e-waste recycling. Our results showthatthe crude processing of e-waste has become one of the major contributors of PBDEs and PCDD/Fs to the terrestrial environment.

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

“…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]. Different PCDD/Fs homologue profiles are normally correlated with different PCDD/Fs formation pathways.…”

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).…”

Evaluating the blank contamination and recovery of sample pretreatment procedures for analyzing organophosphorus flame retardants in waters

“…Given that OPFR are considered to be suitable alternatives for polybrominated diphenyl esters, which have been restricted under restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances (RoHS) 2011 (European Union, 2011), and pentaand octabromodiphenyl ethers, which were banned by the European Union (Leung et al, 2007), the general production and consumption of OPEs is expected to increase in the coming years.…”