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E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem

BACKGROUND: Electronic waste (e-waste) is produced in staggering quantities, estimated globally to be 41.8 million tonnes in 2014. Informal e-waste recycling is a source of much-needed income in many low- to middle-income countries. However, its handling and disposal in underdeveloped countries is o...

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Autores principales: Heacock, Michelle, Kelly, Carol Bain, Asante, Kwadwo Ansong, Birnbaum, Linda S., Bergman, Åke Lennart, Bruné, Marie-Noel, Buka, Irena, Carpenter, David O., Chen, Aimin, Huo, Xia, Kamel, Mostafa, Landrigan, Philip J., Magalini, Federico, Diaz-Barriga, Fernando, Neira, Maria, Omar, Magdy, Pascale, Antonio, Ruchirawat, Mathuros, Sly, Leith, Sly, Peter D., Van den Berg, Martin, Suk, William A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4858409/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26418733
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509699
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author Heacock, Michelle
Kelly, Carol Bain
Asante, Kwadwo Ansong
Birnbaum, Linda S.
Bergman, Åke Lennart
Bruné, Marie-Noel
Buka, Irena
Carpenter, David O.
Chen, Aimin
Huo, Xia
Kamel, Mostafa
Landrigan, Philip J.
Magalini, Federico
Diaz-Barriga, Fernando
Neira, Maria
Omar, Magdy
Pascale, Antonio
Ruchirawat, Mathuros
Sly, Leith
Sly, Peter D.
Van den Berg, Martin
Suk, William A.
author_facet Heacock, Michelle
Kelly, Carol Bain
Asante, Kwadwo Ansong
Birnbaum, Linda S.
Bergman, Åke Lennart
Bruné, Marie-Noel
Buka, Irena
Carpenter, David O.
Chen, Aimin
Huo, Xia
Kamel, Mostafa
Landrigan, Philip J.
Magalini, Federico
Diaz-Barriga, Fernando
Neira, Maria
Omar, Magdy
Pascale, Antonio
Ruchirawat, Mathuros
Sly, Leith
Sly, Peter D.
Van den Berg, Martin
Suk, William A.
author_sort Heacock, Michelle
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Electronic waste (e-waste) is produced in staggering quantities, estimated globally to be 41.8 million tonnes in 2014. Informal e-waste recycling is a source of much-needed income in many low- to middle-income countries. However, its handling and disposal in underdeveloped countries is often unsafe and leads to contaminated environments. Rudimentary and uncontrolled processing methods often result in substantial harmful chemical exposures among vulnerable populations, including women and children. E-waste hazards have not yet received the attention they deserve in research and public health agendas. OBJECTIVES: We provide an overview of the scale and health risks. We review international efforts concerned with environmental hazards, especially affecting children, as a preface to presenting next steps in addressing health issues stemming from the global e-waste problem. DISCUSSION: The e-waste problem has been building for decades. Increased observation of adverse health effects from e-waste sites calls for protecting human health and the environment from e-waste contamination. Even if e-waste exposure intervention and prevention efforts are implemented, legacy contamination will remain, necessitating increased awareness of e-waste as a major environmental health threat. CONCLUSION: Global, national, and local levels efforts must aim to create safe recycling operations that consider broad security issues for people who rely on e-waste processing for survival. Paramount to these efforts is reducing pregnant women and children’s e-waste exposures to mitigate harmful health effects. With human environmental health in mind, novel dismantling methods and remediation technologies and intervention practices are needed to protect communities. CITATION: Heacock M, Kelly CB, Asante KA, Birnbaum LS, Bergman AL, Bruné MN, Buka I, Carpenter DO, Chen A, Huo X, Kamel M, Landrigan PJ, Magalini F, Diaz-Barriga F, Neira M, Omar M, Pascale A, Ruchirawat M, Sly L, Sly PD, Van den Berg M, Suk WA. 2016. E-waste and harm to vulnerable populations: a growing global problem. Environ Health Perspect 124:550–555; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509699
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spelling pubmed-48584092016-05-12 E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem Heacock, Michelle Kelly, Carol Bain Asante, Kwadwo Ansong Birnbaum, Linda S. Bergman, Åke Lennart Bruné, Marie-Noel Buka, Irena Carpenter, David O. Chen, Aimin Huo, Xia Kamel, Mostafa Landrigan, Philip J. Magalini, Federico Diaz-Barriga, Fernando Neira, Maria Omar, Magdy Pascale, Antonio Ruchirawat, Mathuros Sly, Leith Sly, Peter D. Van den Berg, Martin Suk, William A. Environ Health Perspect Commentary BACKGROUND: Electronic waste (e-waste) is produced in staggering quantities, estimated globally to be 41.8 million tonnes in 2014. Informal e-waste recycling is a source of much-needed income in many low- to middle-income countries. However, its handling and disposal in underdeveloped countries is often unsafe and leads to contaminated environments. Rudimentary and uncontrolled processing methods often result in substantial harmful chemical exposures among vulnerable populations, including women and children. E-waste hazards have not yet received the attention they deserve in research and public health agendas. OBJECTIVES: We provide an overview of the scale and health risks. We review international efforts concerned with environmental hazards, especially affecting children, as a preface to presenting next steps in addressing health issues stemming from the global e-waste problem. DISCUSSION: The e-waste problem has been building for decades. Increased observation of adverse health effects from e-waste sites calls for protecting human health and the environment from e-waste contamination. Even if e-waste exposure intervention and prevention efforts are implemented, legacy contamination will remain, necessitating increased awareness of e-waste as a major environmental health threat. CONCLUSION: Global, national, and local levels efforts must aim to create safe recycling operations that consider broad security issues for people who rely on e-waste processing for survival. Paramount to these efforts is reducing pregnant women and children’s e-waste exposures to mitigate harmful health effects. With human environmental health in mind, novel dismantling methods and remediation technologies and intervention practices are needed to protect communities. CITATION: Heacock M, Kelly CB, Asante KA, Birnbaum LS, Bergman AL, Bruné MN, Buka I, Carpenter DO, Chen A, Huo X, Kamel M, Landrigan PJ, Magalini F, Diaz-Barriga F, Neira M, Omar M, Pascale A, Ruchirawat M, Sly L, Sly PD, Van den Berg M, Suk WA. 2016. E-waste and harm to vulnerable populations: a growing global problem. Environ Health Perspect 124:550–555; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509699 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2015-09-29 2016-05 /pmc/articles/PMC4858409/ /pubmed/26418733 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509699 Text en http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged (for example, “Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives”); pertinent reference information should be provided for the article from which the material was reproduced. Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright.
spellingShingle Commentary
Heacock, Michelle
Kelly, Carol Bain
Asante, Kwadwo Ansong
Birnbaum, Linda S.
Bergman, Åke Lennart
Bruné, Marie-Noel
Buka, Irena
Carpenter, David O.
Chen, Aimin
Huo, Xia
Kamel, Mostafa
Landrigan, Philip J.
Magalini, Federico
Diaz-Barriga, Fernando
Neira, Maria
Omar, Magdy
Pascale, Antonio
Ruchirawat, Mathuros
Sly, Leith
Sly, Peter D.
Van den Berg, Martin
Suk, William A.
E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem
title E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem
title_full E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem
title_fullStr E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem
title_full_unstemmed E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem
title_short E-Waste and Harm to Vulnerable Populations: A Growing Global Problem
title_sort e-waste and harm to vulnerable populations: a growing global problem
topic Commentary
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4858409/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26418733
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509699
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