Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
has.been.found.to.be.extensively.contaminated.by.heavy.metals.and.chlori-
nated.and.brominated.compounds.from.e-waste.
Human Health
E-waste.disposals.impact.human.health.in.two.main.ways..One.is.the.con-
tamination. by. toxic. substances. from. e-waste. disposal. either. in. landill. or.
release.of.toxic.substances.into.the.environment.due.to.the.use.of.primitive.
recycling.processes,.which.later.enter.into.the.food.chain.and.are.transferred.
to. humans.. The. other. is. the. direct. impact. on. workers. who. work. at. sites.
where.such.primitive.recycling.processes.take.place..The.danger.of.e-waste.
toxicity.to.human.health,.both.chronic.and.acute,.has.become.a.serious.prob-
lem.in.society..Qu.et.al..(2007).studied.PBDE.exposure.of.workers.in.e-waste.
recycling.areas.and. found.high.levels.of.PBDE.in.the.serum.of.the.sample.
groups.. Zheng. et. al.. (2008). investigated. blood. lead. and. cadmium. levels. in.
children.around.e-waste.recycling.regions.and.found.high.levels.of.lead.and.
cadmium.in.their.blood.
StrategiesforManagingE-Waste
The. constant. improvement. in. information. and. communications. technolo-
gies. (ICT). has. decreased. the. lifespan. of. electronic. products,. leading. to. an.
increase.in.the.volume.of.e-waste..Although.the.e-waste.problem.was.typi-
cally.associated.with.developed.countries.in.the.past,.it.is.no.longer.restricted.
to.developed.countries.and.is.now.indeed.a.global.problem..In.response.to.
this. global. challenge,. the. international. community. has. come. together. in. a.
collaborative.research.effort.to.reduce.e-waste.impacts..Moreover,.research-
ers.have.investigated.the.volume,.nature,.and.potential.environmental.and.
human. health. impacts. of. e-waste. (Widmer. et. al.. 2005).. Such. studies. have.
contributed. to. the. development. of. methodology. for. assessing. informal.
e-waste.management.systems,.for.instance,.a.comprehensive.tool.developed.
for.assessing.e-waste.impact.as.shown.in.Figure.11.1..This.tool.assists.both.
qualitative. and. quantitative. assessment. of. the. impact. of. e-wastes.. Widmer.
et.al..(2005).developed.an.assessment.indicator.system.to.measure.and.com-
pare. e-waste. management. systems,. which. included. the. investigation. and.
management.of.e-waste.problems.using.three.main.points:.policy.and.legis-
lation;.economy,.society,.and.culture;.and.science.and.technology.
Policy and Legislation
There. is. currently. an. extensive. research. into. both. policy. and. legislative.
aspects. of. e-waste. in. order. to. mitigate. problems. at. the. national. level.. The.
current.state.of.the.national.policy.and.legislative.framework.is.very.diverse..
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