[Pharmwaste] E-waste recycling centers are hot spots for PBDEs

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/mar/science/tw_ewas
te.html

Science News - March 14, 2007 

E-waste recycling centers are hot spots for POPs

PBDE flame retardants as well as dioxins and furans are turning up in
high levels in soils near primitive e-waste recycling centers in China.

Discarded electrical and electronic equipment, often called e-waste, is
becoming a major environmental concern, particularly in developing
countries. In a report published today on ES&T's Research ASAP website
(DOI: 10.1021/es0625935), researchers from Hong Kong Baptist University
have found elevated levels of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame
retardants as well as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and
dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in surface soil samples and combustion residues
in Guiyu in southeastern China, a region notorious for its intensive
e-waste recycling centers.

"Crude e-waste recycling activities, including the open burning of
e-waste, are a hot spot for PBDEs and PCDD/Fs," says the paper's first
author, Anna Leung. The researchers found that PBDE levels in combustion
residues from open burning were some of the highest found in any
environmental medium (33,000-97,400 nanograms per gram [ng/g]), more
than 16,000 times higher than those found in soil samples in a distant
reservoir that served as a control site. High levels of PBDEs were also
found in soils from an acid-leaching site (2720-4250 ng/g), where
workers use a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid to recover
precious metals from shredded printed circuit boards, and from a
printer-roller dump site (593-2890 ng/g). BDE-209, a signature of
Deca-BDE, was the dominant congener; however, signature congeners from
Penta- and Octa-BDE were also found.

Levels of PCDD/Fs at an acid-leaching site were higher (12,500-89,800
picograms per gram [pg/g]) than those in the combustion residues
(13,500-25,300 pg/g). Bixian Mai from the Guangzhou Institute of
Geochemistry (China) suggests that "the PCDD/Fs from combustion may be
emitted to the atmosphere instead of depositing to the nearby soils,"
whereas the "wastes from acid leaching are directly discharged to the
surrounding surfaces."

The UN Environment Programme estimates that each year 20-50 million
metric tons of e-waste are produced worldwide; this number is increasing
rapidly. The U.S. EPA estimates that between 2000 and 2007, 500 million
computers will become obsolete in the U.S. As an alternative to
overpacking landfills or recycling domestically, some industrialized
countries have found it more convenient and cheaper to export e-waste to
developing countries, such as China and India, where labor costs are
low, and occupational and environmental laws are lax or not well
implemented.

According to the environmental group Basel Action Network, 50-80% of
e-waste collected in the U.S. for recycling is exported to developing
countries. "This situation is exacerbated because the U.S. has not
ratified the Basel Convention, which prohibits the shipment of hazardous
waste [including e-waste] across countries," says Oladele Ogunseitan of
the University of California, Irvine. "Therefore, it may not necessarily
be illegal for the U.S. to export e-waste out of the country," says
Leung. She adds that China's State Environmental Protection
Administration has prohibited the import of e-waste but that the
recycling of e-waste has still been largely unregulated until recently.
Following in the footsteps of the EU, China is drafting ordinances to
address the issue of recycling e-waste.

The interdisciplinary team, led by Minghung Wong, has been conducting
research in Guiyu since 2003. Its studies provide evidence that
pollutants, such as PCDD/Fs, PBDEs, PAHs, and heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Ni,
Pb, and Zn), are found at higher levels at open-burning sites than at
nonopen-burning sites. The work underscores the importance of e-waste
processing activities.

Workers in the e-waste recycling industry are especially vulnerable.
"Exposure to PBDEs and PCDD/Fs for the workers can come through
industrial exposure by skin contact or inhalation," says Minghu Zheng
from the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences in Beijing. The
research group and Ogunseitan recommend further studies to assess the
impact of pollutants on the local wildlife and human population. "We are
also [undertaking] a human-health risk assessment by conducting a food
consumption survey and analyzing fish tissues and human milk" for
persistent organic pollutants, says Leung. She also hints that
unpublished data reveal elevated levels of several heavy metals in dust
inside recycling workshops and in road dust in the vicinity. She hopes
that the results from their research can be used as a "case study to
alert other e-waste processing regions of the adverse environmental and
health impacts associated with unregulated and primitive e-waste
practices." -THANH WANG



Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
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