Russian Journal of Earth Sciences Russian Journal of Earth Sciences Russian Journal of Earth Sciences 1681-1208 72233 10.2205/2023ES02SI08 СПЕЦВЫПУСК: "ФУНДАМЕНТАЛЬНЫЕ И ПРИКЛАДНЫЕ АСПЕКТЫ ГЕОЛОГИИ, ГЕОФИЗИКИ И ГЕОЭКОЛОГИИ" SPECIAL ISSUE: "FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS OF GEOLOGY, GEOPHYSICS AND GEOECOLOGY" СПЕЦВЫПУСК: "ФУНДАМЕНТАЛЬНЫЕ И ПРИКЛАДНЫЕ АСПЕКТЫ ГЕОЛОГИИ, ГЕОФИЗИКИ И ГЕОЭКОЛОГИИ" E-Waste: a Concise Update on Global Movement, Impacts, Management, and Site Remediation E-Waste: a Concise Update on Global Movement, Impacts, Management, and Site Remediation https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5615-471X Ming Hung Wong Ming Hung Wong Южный федеральный университет Southern Federal University Consortium on Health, Environment, Education, and Research (CHEER) Китайская Народная Республика Consortium on Health, Environment, Education, and Research (CHEER) China 15 12 2023 15 12 2023 23 5 1 19 20 10 2023 27 11 2023 https://ras.editorum.ru/en/nauka/article/72233/view

The rapid rise of electronic waste (e-waste) worldwide has become a public health concern. Wealthy countries are disposing of their e-waste to other countries taking advantage of their less stringent environmental laws and regulations. China used to receive large amounts of e-waste through Hong Kong (a free port) but banned the entry of e-waste in 2013. Salvaging or recycling different parts of the e-waste using primitive and uncontrolled techniques generated a wide range of toxic chemicals (mainly heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants). Most studies concerning the environmental and health impacts of the emitted toxic chemicals were conducted in China. The principal aim of this short article is to review the various environmental problems and health impacts of e-waste recycling, policies, management, and remediation of contaminated sites. Out of the primitive methods used for recycling, the two most destructive ones causing harm to the environment and human health are (1) Open-burning of e-waste for disposing of the salvaged e-waste and (2) Acid-stripping of electronic boards for collecting precious metals (gold, silver, platinum). There is sufficient evidence showing the associations between the toxic chemicals in different media (i.e., water, soil/sediment, air) and local food items (i.e., fish, meat, vegetables), linking with body burdens (hair, milk, placenta) of workers and residents. The epidemiological data further demonstrated the abrupt rise of several significant diseases (i.e., respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, malignant tumors) in Taizhou (China), one of the two e-waste recycling sites. Effective policies and vigorous enforcement in managing e-waste are essential. International cooperation is necessary to prohibit the transboundary movement of e-waste. Sites contaminated by e-waste recycling contain incredibly high concentrations of toxic pollutants, which should be removed using excavation, degradation (via microbes, nanoparticles, biochar), soil washing, etc. Planting appropriate plants with associated rhizospheric microbes would achieve longer-term stability.

The rapid rise of electronic waste (e-waste) worldwide has become a public health concern. Wealthy countries are disposing of their e-waste to other countries taking advantage of their less stringent environmental laws and regulations. China used to receive large amounts of e-waste through Hong Kong (a free port) but banned the entry of e-waste in 2013. Salvaging or recycling different parts of the e-waste using primitive and uncontrolled techniques generated a wide range of toxic chemicals (mainly heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants). Most studies concerning the environmental and health impacts of the emitted toxic chemicals were conducted in China. The principal aim of this short article is to review the various environmental problems and health impacts of e-waste recycling, policies, management, and remediation of contaminated sites. Out of the primitive methods used for recycling, the two most destructive ones causing harm to the environment and human health are (1) Open-burning of e-waste for disposing of the salvaged e-waste and (2) Acid-stripping of electronic boards for collecting precious metals (gold, silver, platinum). There is sufficient evidence showing the associations between the toxic chemicals in different media (i.e., water, soil/sediment, air) and local food items (i.e., fish, meat, vegetables), linking with body burdens (hair, milk, placenta) of workers and residents. The epidemiological data further demonstrated the abrupt rise of several significant diseases (i.e., respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, malignant tumors) in Taizhou (China), one of the two e-waste recycling sites. Effective policies and vigorous enforcement in managing e-waste are essential. International cooperation is necessary to prohibit the transboundary movement of e-waste. Sites contaminated by e-waste recycling contain incredibly high concentrations of toxic pollutants, which should be removed using excavation, degradation (via microbes, nanoparticles, biochar), soil washing, etc. Planting appropriate plants with associated rhizospheric microbes would achieve longer-term stability.

 ecological and human health open burning persistent toxic substances primitive recycling techniques The study was carried out in the laboratory “Soil Health” of the Southern Federal University with the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, agreement no. 075-15-2022-1122.

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