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Background: Contemporary society has led to the increasing use of electronic equipment that is very much responsible for the burden of electronic waste (e-waste). E-waste contains very hazardous substance that harms health and environmental conditions. There is no delicate mechanism for the management of e-waste in Lucknow city, Uttar Pradesh. This study assessed knowledge, practice, and awareness of e-waste management among residents of this city. Material and methods: The study was conducted amongst users of electronic equipment living in the Lucknow City of Uttar Pradesh. The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Multi-stage random sampling was done for the selection of participants for the study. A predesigned and pretested questionnaire was administered in a single setting for all phases. The total optimum sample size is 700 individuals who participated in the study. Data were entered in MS Excel 2016 and descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were calculated, applying the chi-square test for association using R-4.2.1 Statistical software. Aim and objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding the management of electronic waste among users of electronic equipment residing in Lucknow city. Results: Only 37% of users are aware that e-waste adversely affects health. Only 34.3% of users knew that e-waste should be given to the seller or manufacturer for recycling while rest told that it should be stored at home, sold to a scrap dealer, or disposed with normal waste. 87.3% users are not aware about e-waste govt guidelines. In the current study electronic and print media like television, radio and news paper were not found to be source of information for e-waste disposal. Conclusion: Education regarding the ill effects of e-waste is essential for people and awareness of proper disposal of e-waste is the need of the hour. Electronic and print media as well as companies producing electronic equipment should play a significant role to awaken the respondent about the disposal of e-waste
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Background: Microbial community analysis of electronic waste (e-waste)-polluted environments is of interest to understand the effect of toxic e-waste pollutants on the soil microbial community and to evaluate novel microorganisms resisting the toxic environment. The present study aims to investigate the bacterial community structure in soils contaminated with e-waste from various sites of Loni and Mandoli (National Capital Region (NCR), India) where e-waste dumping and recycling activities are being carried out for many years. Results: Interferences to soil metagenomic DNA extraction and PCR amplification were observed because of the presence of inhibiting components derived from circuit boards. Whole-metagenome sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform showed that the most abundant phyla were Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Deltaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria were the most common classes under Proteobacteria. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene showed that e-waste contamination altered the soil bacterial composition and diversity. There was a decrease in the number of predominant bacterial groups like Proteobacteria and Firmicutes but emergence of Actinobacteria in the contaminated soil samples. Conclusions: This is the first report describing the bacterial community structure of composite soil samples of ewaste-contaminated sites of Loni and Mandoli, Delhi NCR, India. The findings indicate that novel bacteria with potential bioremediating properties may be present in the e-waste-contaminated sites and hence need to be evaluated further.
Subject(s)
Soil Microbiology , Bacteria/isolation & purification , Bacteria/genetics , Electronic Waste/analysis , Soil Pollutants , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Metals, Heavy , Proteobacteria/isolation & purification , Metagenomics , Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis , Microbiota , Firmicutes/isolation & purification , IndiaABSTRACT
Increasing e-waste has become a major problem for global environment and public health. In the process of dismantling and recycling of disordered electronic waste, heavy metals such as lead and brominated flame retardants and organic substances are released into environmental media such as air, soil, dust and water, which is harmful to the health of local residents. Taking an e-waste dismantling area in Guangdong Province as an example, this paper reviews exposure levels of heavy metals and organic matters in e-waste recycling areas in China, as well as the health effects of local residents. Previous studies have found that e-waste recycling activities led to serious environmental pollution and high exposure levels of heavy metals and organic matters in local residents, which has a certain impact on the physiological functions of various human systems. The establishment of a centralized dismantling zone can effectively reduce the load level of various pollutants.
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Vegetables, rice, eggs and drinking water samples were collected from e-waste dismantling area of Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province. Nickel (Ni) was analyzed in each sample, and the non-carcinogenic health [the daily intake (DI) and hazard quotient (HQ)] of each sample was evaluated. In this e-waste dismantling area, the contents of Ni in rice and eggs were (0.46±0.24) and (0.16±0.13) μg/g, which were higher than those in the control area [the contents of Ni in rice and eggs were (0.17±0.03) and (0.02±0.02) μg/g, respectively] (both P values<0.05). The DI values of rice, vegetable, eggs, and drinking water were (3.61-5.86), (1.75-2.99), (0.11-0.24), and (0.08-0.12) μg·kg-1·day-1, respectively. The HQ values were 0.180-0.290, 0.090-0.150, 0.005-0.010, 0.005-0.006, respectively. Although the HQ values of rice, vegetable, eggs, and drinking water were all lower than 1, which was an acceptable level. However, considering the possibility of combined exposure of heavy metals, the non-carcinogenic health risks of Ni in the e-waste dismantling area should still be concerned.
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Objective@#To study on the exposure of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination and DNA methylation in male employees in an e-waste dismantling area in Tianjin.@*Methods@#In 2016, an e-waste dismantling area in Tianjin and an area 50 km away from the e-waste dismantling area (no e-waste or other chemical, industrial and agricultural pollution nearby) were selected as the study area and the reference area. Male residents of the study area and male farmers who planted vegetables, fruits, and crops in the reference area were selected as the exposed and reference group by using the convenient sampling method. A total of 60 subjects (30 in each of the exposed group and the reference group) were included. The peripheral blood (5 ml) of the study subject was collected, and the PCB concentration was detected. Eight independent subjects in the exposed group and the reference group were randomly selected by random number table method to detect the methylation level of the promoter region of all gene loci, and the mRNA transcript levels.@*Results@#The PCB concentration in peripheral blood of the exposed group was higher than that of the reference group, and the difference was statistically significant (allP values <0.001). The methylation levels of the promoter region of the exposed group and the reference group showed obvious clustering, and 994 gene loci had different degrees of methylation. Compared with the reference group, there were 391 hypomethylation sites and 553 hypermethylation sites in the exposed group. The proportion of methylation sites in the high CpG-rich region was 59.2% and 48.1%, respectively. The mRNA level of the hypomethylated gene in the exposed group was higher (FAM131A, HBM), and the transcription level of the hypermethylated gene was lower (CAPN15, NFIC, SHISA5, FGF13, GRAMD1A, CLEC3B, LILRB2, DCAF7). The mRNA transcription levels of 10 genes above in the exposed group and the reference group were statistically significant (all P values <0.001).@*Conclusion@#The PCB concentration of peripheral blood in the exposed population of e-waste is high. PCB exposure changes the methylation level of specific genes and affects the mRNA transcription level of some genes.
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Objective@#To study on the genomic stability of male workers engaged in e-waste dismantling area in Tianjin.@*Methods@#In 2016, an e-waste dismantling area in Tianjin and an area 50 km away from the e-waste dismantling area (no e-waste or other chemical, industrial and agricultural pollution nearby) were selected as the study area and the reference area. Male residents of the study area and male farmers who planted vegetables, fruits, and crops in the reference area were selected as the exposed and reference group by using the convenient sampling method. The exposed group included 146 workers who engaged in e-waste recycling work more than 1 year. The reference group included 121 farmers who never engaged in e-waste recycling work. Questionnaires were used to collect information of all subjects. The semen and peripheral blood were also collected. Trace elements and polychlorinated biphenyl concentration in blood were detected. DNA damage in peripheral blood and sperm was detected, and gene expression was analyzed. DNA damage was assessed using tail DNA% (TDNA%), tail moment (TM) and olive tail moment (OTM) of comet assay.@*Results@#The ages of the exposed group and the reference group were (33.6±12.1) and (33.9±11.9) years old, respectively. The proportions of subjects with exposure time of ≤3, 4-6, ≥7 years were 43% (63 cases), 26% (53 cases) and 21% (30 cases), respectively. The Pb and polychlorinated biphenyl(PCB) concentrations in the exposed group [(90.4±15.3) μg/ml and (101±30) ng/ml, respectively] were higher than those in the reference group [Pb and PCB concentrations were (60.2±8.9) μg/ml, and (2.5±1.4) ng/ml, respectively (both P values <0.05)]. The TDNA%, TM and OTM of peripheral blood and sperm in the exposed group were 5.9%±0.3% and 2.6%±0.90%, 0.93±0.16 and 0.51±0.20, 0.82±0.09 and 0.56±0.07, respectively, which were all higher than those in the reference group [TDNA%, TM and OTM of peripheral blood and sperm were 1.8%±0.2% and 1.9%±0.2%, 0.21±0.04 and 0.32±0.10, 0.19±0.03 and 0.20±0.08, respectively (all P values <0.001)]. The results of gene expression showed that 20 differentially expressed genes, including 13 up-regulated genes and 7 down-regulated genes, were detected in the exposed group compared with the reference group.@*Conclusion@#There are obvious DNA damage and DNA repair gene disorder in male workers of an e-waste dismantling area in Tianjin. The current operation mode brings potential health risks to workers.
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Objective@#To study the pollution status of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in cord blood of newborns in an e-waste dismantling area of Guangdong Province.@*Methods@#We recruited 20 eligible mothers and newborns who could meet the inclusion criteria in local hospitals of Guiyu in 2007. The inclusion criteria included directly engaged in dismantling e-waste during pregnancy and within 1 year before pregnancy; living in the e-waste dismantling workshops or the distance between living place and the e-waste dismantling areas was ≤200 m; the father of newborn was directly engaged in electronic waste dismantling for more than 1 year; the frequency of visiting the e-waste dismantling workshop during pregnancy was ≥3 times in a week. Questionnaires and physical examinations were performed on maternal and neonatal, and cord blood was collected from newborns to detect PCDD/Fs, PCB and PBDE. The concentration level of organic pollutants was corrected by the blood lipid content, and the total toxicity equivalent was calculated. The correlation between three compounds was analyzed by Spearman correlation.@*Results@#The mothers of the 20 newborns were (23.45±3.27) years old and lived for more than 5 years. The number of one parent engaged in e-waste dismantling, the mother or father smoking, and parent engaged in e-waste dismantling work were 3, 13, 15 and 19, respectively. The weight of newborns ranged from 2.5 to 3.6 kilogram and the Apgar score was 10 points. No adverse birth outcomes such as preterm birth, malformation or stillbirth were found. The median (maximum, minimum) concentration of PCBs, PCDD/Fs and PBDEs in cord blood were 263.22 (328.29, 244.19), 38.42 (147.49, 12.68), 39.33 (265.11, 14.81) pg/g lipid, respectively. The median (maximum, minimum) of toxic equivalence concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PCB were 3.94 (9.24, 2.69) and 15.95 (26.64, 9.28) pg TEQ/g lipid. PBDE, the proportion of PBDE, PCB and PCDD/Fs in cord blood was 50.41%, 49.25% and 0.34%, respectively. PCBs and PBDEs were positively correlated (r=0.733, P=0.039).@*Conclusion@#The high concentrations of PCDD/Fs, PCB, and PBDE were detected in the e-waste dismantling area. It is recommended that the risk of such substances on the health of local people should be assessed in a timely manner.
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With the acceleration of global urbanization, the human health impact from growing e-waste has become increasingly serious. Several regions of China are heavily polluted by e-waste, which has led to adverse health outcomes. Critical issues need to be addressed, including how to identify adverse health effects and conduct the health risk assessment for prevention. Recently, globally governmental-based regulations and enforcement of legislation regarding the export, recycling and disposal process of e-waste have made certain achievements. In this issue, we published several articles, which summarized and analyzed the relationship between e-waste pollution and adverse health effects from various aspects such as exposure analysis, adverse health outcomes, mechanisms and risk assessment. These findings could provide basic data and guidelines for health risk assessment and disease prevention of e-waste pollution in China.
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OBJECTIVES: This study examined the spatial distribution and the extent of soil contamination by heavy metals resulting from primitive, unconventional informal electronic waste recycling in the Agbogbloshie e-waste processing site (AEPS) in Ghana. METHODS: A total of 132 samples were collected at 100 m intervals, with a handheld global position system used in taking the location data of the soil sample points. Observing all procedural and quality assurance measures, the samples were analyzed for barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn), using X-ray fluorescence. Using environmental risk indices of contamination factor and degree of contamination (Cdeg), we analyzed the individual contribution of each heavy metal contamination and the overall Cdeg. We further used geostatistical techniques of spatial autocorrelation and variability to examine spatial distribution and extent of heavy metal contamination. RESULTS: Results from soil analysis showed that heavy metal concentrations were significantly higher than the Canadian Environmental Protection Agency and Dutch environmental standards. In an increasing order, Pb>Cd>Hg>Cu>Zn>Cr>Co>Ba>Ni contributed significantly to the overall Cdeg. Contamination was highest in the main working areas of burning and dismantling sites, indicating the influence of recycling activities. Geostatistical analysis also revealed that heavy metal contamination spreads beyond the main working areas to residential, recreational, farming, and commercial areas. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that the studied heavy metals are ubiquitous within AEPS and the significantly high concentration of these metals reflect the contamination factor and Cdeg, indicating soil contamination in AEPS with the nine heavy metals studied.
Subject(s)
Agriculture , Barium , Burns , Cadmium , Chromium , Cobalt , Copper , Electronic Waste , Fluorescence , Ghana , Metals , Metals, Heavy , Nickel , Recycling , Soil , Spatial Analysis , United States Environmental Protection Agency , ZincABSTRACT
The continuous increase in the scientific breakthroughs which has existed for some decades, has greatly contributed to the ease of human existence in all ramification. However, these sucesses are not without their short-comings. One of the major challenges faced, is the uncontrolled generation of used electronic appliances or gadgets, commomnly called electronic waste (e-waste), especially in the developing countries. Ewaste generated from electrical and electronic equipments is one of the fastest growing global manufacturing activities. In the developed countries, larger percentage of these ewastes are recycled, thus reducing the potential health risk that could result from exposure to e-wastes. However, in the developing countries, there is little or no machinery in place for recycling and controlling e-wastes, probably because this part of the world are mainly consumers. Most of the e-waste are either used as landfills, disposed and left to decay naturally or burnt. Through these waste disposing practices, the components in the ewastes either leach into underground water bodies or escape into the atmosphere. Most of these components are potent carcinogens, that pose a great health risk to aquatic lives and humans who are continually exposed to them, no wonder, Africa has been tagged “ hub of diseases”. There is an urgent need for a more efficient and robust e-waste disposal technology in the developing countries, so that the overwhelming challenges posed by the components of e-waste can be efficiently controlled.
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Objective To explore the genetic damages of people exposed to electronic waste from three villages that have been processing the electronic waste collectively in county of Tianjin, and to analyze the damaging effects of the electronic pollutants on the genetic substances. Methods The blood samples of 1 256 villagers from this region were collected to do chromosomal karyotype analysis, from which 171 samples were randomly chosen to do micronucleus test, 12 samples were chosen to do comet assay experiments. 60 villagers living far from the electronic waste processing regions were chosen as the control group. Chi-Square test and T-test were employed to do statistic analysis. Results The chromosomal structural aberration in the research group was 6.23%, and the number aberration was 0.29%. Both of chromosomal conjoint and satellite conjoint were higher compared with the control (P
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Objective To understand the health of the electronic waste (e-waste) treatment workers and the adverse effects of e-waste on the workers engaged in e-waste dismantlement.Methods Health states were assessed by questionnaire investigation on 226 e-waste dismantlement workers and 172 non e-waste dismantlement workers (control group).Results The prevalence rates of headache/vertigo(47.7%),tetter /itch (15.0%),nausea(11.1%),insomnia(9.7%),hypomnesia (5.3%),nasal obstruction(5.3%),and conjunctiva congestion(4.8%) in e-waste dismantlement workers were significantly higher than that in the control group,and it seemed that the severity of the symptoms was strongly related to the type of work.Furthermore,there was a tendency that rate of insomnia raised with the length of service in the circuit boards dismantlement group.Conclusion E-waste dismantlement will produce adverse effects on health of the employed workers.