Mitigating Environmental and Health Risks Associated with Uncontrolled Recycling of Electronic Waste: Are International and National Regulations Effective? - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 196

Toxic Chemicals Emitted through Uncontrolled Open Burning of e-Waste
Toxic. chemicals,. including. persistent. organic. pollutants. (POPs). (PCDD/Fs,.
PBDEs,.PAHs,.PCBs).and.heavy.metals.(Cd,.Cr,.Cu,.Hg,.especially.Pb).released.
through. uncontrolled. open. burning. (incomplete. combustion). of. e-waste.
(containing.plastic.chips,.wire.insulations,.PVC.materials,.and.metal.scraps),.
have.resulted.in.severe.contamination.of.different.environmental.media.(i.e.,.
air,.soil,.sediment,.water).(Wong.et.al..2007)..Flame.retardants.are.commonly.
added. in. EEE.. Commercial. penta-BDE. and. octa-BDE. were. included. in. the.
list.of.POPs.for.elimination.under.the.Stockholm.Convention.on.Persistent.
Organic.Pollutants.in.May.2009.(Stockholm.Convention.2008).
Sampling.of.the.air.in.Guiyu.revealed.that.PM 2.5 .was.dominated.by.PBDE.
congeners,.BDE-28,.47,.66,.100,.99,.154,.153,.183,.and.191.which.accounted.for.
84.3%.of.the.total.PBDE.concentration.(22.congeners)...The.more.toxic.mono-.
to. penta-brominated. congeners. contributed. to. 92.8%.. The. concentrations.
of. the. PBDE. congeners. were. 100. times. higher. than. other. published. data.
and.were.attributed.to.uncontrolled.recycling.activities.such.as.the.baking.
of.printed.circuit.boards.inside.recycling.workshops.and.open.burning.of.
e-waste. containing. PBDEs. (Deng. et. al.. 2007).. The. combusted. residue. and.
ash.of.plastic.cables.and.plastic.chips.were.also.found.to.contain.extremely.
high.levels.of.PBDEs,.with.BDE-209,.the.main.component.of.the.commercial.
lame. retardant,. deca-BDE,. having. the. highest. abundance. (up. to. 81%).
(Leung.et.al..2007)..Sediment.collected.from.the.rivers.in.Guiyu.had.a.higher.
level.of.contamination.than.other.polluted.sites.reported.in.the.world.due.to.
dumping.of.combusted.residue.and.ash.(Wang.et.al..2009).
Toxic Chemicals Are Bioaccumulated and Biomagnified in Food Chains
POPs. are. generally. lipophilic. (fat-loving). and. can. be. stored. in. the. lipid. of.
biota,.and.therefore,.certain.ish.species.that.have.high.lipid.content.in.their.
tissues. have. higher. concentrations. of. PBDEs.. The. concentrations. of. total.
PBDEs.in.tilapia.( Oreochromis .spp.).collected.from.rivers.in.Guiyu.were.600.
times.and.15,000.times.higher.than.those.from.Canadian.markets.(0.18.ng/g.
wet.wt).and.U.S..markets.(0.0085.ng/g.wet.wt),.respectively.(Luo.et.al..2007)..
It. is. known. that. ish. bioaccumulate. POPs,. which. subsequently. results. in.
the.accumulation.of. POPs.in.the.human.body.when.contaminated.ish.are.
consumed..People.can.be.exposed.to.POPs.via.several.exposure.pathways,.
which. include. ingestion. (consumption. of. contaminated. foods,. inadvertent.
dust.ingestion),.inhalation,.and.dermal.exposure.
Body Burdens of Toxic Chemicals in Residents of E-Waste Recycling Sites
The.body.burdens.of.POPs.can.be.magniied.in.different.human.tissues..The.
concentrations.of.different.POPs.in.milk,.placenta,.and.hair.of.local.residents.