Electronic Waste

Toxicology and Public Health Issues

Bruce A. Fowler

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780128030844
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Toxicology

Electronic Waste: Toxicology and Public Health Issues discusses the major public health concerns due to the presence of toxic chemicals that are generated from improper recycling and disposal practices of electronic waste (e-waste). This book highlights hazardous inorganic chemicals found in e-waste, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, gallium, iridium, and nanomaterials, also focusing on health issues related to the presence of BPA, styrene, and other plastic components and combustion products, while also identifying populations at special risk.

To provide readers with potential solutions to this global problem, Dr. Fowler presents risk assessment approaches using chemicals, mixtures, biomarkers, susceptibility factors, and computational toxicology. He discusses how to translate the information gathered through risk assessment into safe and effective international policies.

The final chapter is devoted to future research directions. This is a timely and useful resource for all those concerned with the health issues surrounding e-waste management and proper disposal, including toxicologists, public health and policy officials, environmental scientists, and risk assessors.

• Offers a well-researched, single authored book and draws attention to the need for better and more informed risk assessment and policymaking in this area
• Emphasizes the transference of electronic waste (e-waste) to developing countries where populations of concern include children working in recycling activities and impoverished groups with poor nutritional status and limited access to medical resources
• Reviews, in detail, the issue of exposure to chemical mixtures as a central feature of e-waste due to the presence of a number of organic and inorganic chemicals in modern electronic devices

Chapter 1

Magnitude of the Global E-Waste Problem

Abstract

The growing public health problem of how to effectively deal with or dispose of the ever-increasing number of old or outdated electronic devices (e-waste) in a safe manner is complex on a number of levels. Complicating factors range from the sheer numbers of these devices, which have been produced over the past 50 years, to the international nature of recycling activities involving both developed and developing countries and the lack of toxicological information on many of the materials (e.g., nanomaterials) used in these still-evolving devices on an individual and mixture exposure basis. This introductory chapter will attempt to introduce the subissues related to the e-waste problem via an overview of the problem followed by an examination of these subissues, which will be addressed in more detail in the subsequent chapters of this book. It is hoped that such information will be of value to scientists, engineers, risk assessors, and societal decision-makers so that wise and informed decisions may be made for the handling of e-waste in a safe and effective manner to protect the public health. Global public health problems of electronic waste (outdated computers, monitors, printers, televisions, stoves, refrigerators, etc.) have evolved over the past 50–60 years and are accelerating as electronic devices are increasingly used for a variety of purposes in both developed and developing countries. The useful lifetime of these devices is also decreasing as newer and faster devices with more capabilities are developed and purchased.

Keywords

Arsenic; Cadmium; Cellular telephones; Child labor; Computers; Developing countries; Electronic waste; Gallium; Indium; Lead; Metalloids; Nanomaterials; Printers; Televisions; Toxic chemicals; Toxic metals; Washing machines

1. Scope of the Problem

1.1. Electronic Waste Types

There are a number of new electronic devices introduced into commerce on a daily basis to replace older existing produces (Greenpeace, 2009; ILO, 2012; UNEP, 2009; Wikipedia, 2016). The rate at which these new machines are being produced is accelerating since they are being produced in virtually every country of the world (ILO, 2012). The net result of this process is a surplus of older electronic machines that are entering the waste stream on a global basis in enormous quantities (UNEP, 2009). There also appears to be a large backlog of electronic devices currently stored in homes, which have not entered into the e-waste stream (Saphores, Nixon, Ogunseitan, & Shapiro, 2009). The types of electronics that become e-waste include but are not limited to the following: computers, printers, cellular telephones, televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, and more recently, “smart” electronic devices such as tablets and smartphones. Molecular robots with artificial intelligence are also in development (Hagiya, Konagaya, Kobayashi, Saito, & Murata, 2014). All of these useful devices have a finite lifetime, which is increasingly shortened by the advent of newer and faster and more intelligent machines (Singh, Li, & Zeng, 2016). Electronic devices contain a number of toxic chemicals, some of which are highly valuable such as gold, indium, gallium, and copper and worthy of recycling for profit (Cui & Forssberg, 2003). Other chemicals such as those used for insulation (plasticizers) or those used in solders such as lead are both toxic and less valuable and so are often handled in a less careful manner and by persons with little or no training such as children (Heacock et al., 2016; Perkins, Brune Drisse, Nxele, & Sly, 2014).

1.2. Quantities of Outdated Electronic Devices

The sheer quantities of outdated electronic devices being discarded, entering the waste stream or entering recycling programs each year, are in the millions of tons (UNEP, 2009). Many of these devices are dismantled and their components are safely recycled, but others are placed on container ships destined for developing countries where they are broken up and the valuable components are recovered and the remaining waste is burned or buried in landfills (Robinson, 2009). Some of these devices may also be refurbished and have extended working lifetimes (Bovea, Ibanez-Fores, Perez-Belis, & Quemades-Beltran, 2016) as discussed below.

1.2.1. Number of Devices per Year

As noted above, the number of electronic devices entering the e-waste stream each year is in the hundreds of millions across a wide array of electronic products containing both valuable and toxic materials (ILO, 2012; Widmer, Oswald-Krapf, Sinha-Khetriwal, Schnellmann, & Böni, 2005). It has been estimated that ∼80% of the devices submitted for recycling from developed countries are sent to developing countries both legally and illegally (ILO, 2012)

1.2.2. Tonnage per Year

The tonnage per year of discarded electronic products is on the order of millions of tons and growing at an exponential rate (UNEP, 2009). These materials now constitute the fastest growing segment of many municipal waste streams (ILO, 2012). If not efficiently recycled, these materials would contribute to solid waste problems in many countries due to leaching of toxic chemicals into soils and crops (Luo et al., 2011) and rivers and fish (Luo, Cai, & Wong, 2007).

2. Refurbishing Discarded Electronic Devices

Another approach to recycling older electronic devices is to refurbish them via “reverse logistics” so that they will have extended working lifetimes by adding faster electronic circuits, RAM, and wireless capabilities (Ravi, 2012; White, Masanet, Rosen, & Beckman, 2003). These upgrades do reduce the levels of electronic waste, but the problem of what to do with older devices that are beyond repair and the old circuit boards or wiring, which is destined for destruction to recover metallic components, remains.

3. Recycling of Devices Manufactured With Newer High Technology Alloy Nanomaterials

As noted above, e-waste is composed of a number of high technology materials from a rapidly evolving industry that introduces new materials in terms of both chemical and physical characteristics (e.g., nanomaterials) on an ongoing basis. This situation creates potential problems from the perspective of chemical safety and environmental dispersion (Bystrzejewska-Piotrowska, Golimowski, & Urban, 2009; Wynne, Buckley, Coumbe, Phillips, & Stevenson, 2008) since the database for these materials is usually very limited and especially so if device containing these chemicals are being recycled under nonregulated workspaces in developing countries by children as discussed below.

4. Global Distribution Steams of E-Waste—Where Does It Go?

The global patterns of e-waste for recycling are well known and involve both developed countries (Kahat et al, 2008; Plambeck & Wong, 2009) such as the United States or European countries and developing countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and China (Nnorom & Osibanjo, 2008; Robinson, 2009; Sthiannopkao & Wong, 2013; Streicher-Porte et al., 2005; UNEP, 2009; Widmer et al., 2005; C.S.C. Wong, Wu, Duzgoren-Aydin, 2007; M. Wong et al., 2007). The global pathways and major recycling sites are well known as shown in Fig. 1.1. The recycling of these devices has a number of both positive aspects (employment) and increased access to the Internet as examples, as well as some negative consequences such as toxic chemical pollution with increased disease burdens (Williams et al., 2008). Toxic materials from these activities such as metals have been reported to eventually find their way into groundwater (Chen, 2006) or sediments (C.S.C. Wong et al., 2007; M. Wong et al., 2007) in some Asian countries.

5. Uptake of Toxic Chemicals Originating From E-Waste Into Food

In many countries, water systems that may drain e-waste recycling areas are also used for irrigation of food crops and support commercial or sport fisheries, which are used as food sources. This means that toxic chemicals released during the recycling of e-waste...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgment
• Copyright
• Biography
• Foreword
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Magnitude of the Global E-Waste Problem
• Chapter 2. Metals, Metallic Compounds, Organic Chemicals, and E-Waste Chemical Mixtures
• Chapter 3. Toxicology of E-Waste Chemicals—Mechanisms of Action
• Chapter 4. Populations at Special Risk
• Chapter 5. Risk Assessment/Risk Communication Approaches for E-Waste Sites
• Chapter 6. Translation of Risk Assessment Information Into Effective International Policies and Actions
• Chapter 7. Current E-Waste Data Gaps and Future Research Directions
• Index