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Health Risks of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Metals at Informal Electronic Waste Recycling Sites

Concerns about the adverse public health consequences of informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling are increasing. This study adopted a cross-sectional study design to gain insights into health risks (cancer and non-cancer risks) associated with exposure to e-waste chemicals among informal e-was...

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Autores principales: Ohajinwa, Chimere May, van Bodegom, Peter M., Osibanjo, Oladele, Xie, Qing, Chen, Jingwen, Vijver, Martina G., Peijnenburg, Willie J. G. M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30871202
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16060906
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author Ohajinwa, Chimere May
van Bodegom, Peter M.
Osibanjo, Oladele
Xie, Qing
Chen, Jingwen
Vijver, Martina G.
Peijnenburg, Willie J. G. M.
author_facet Ohajinwa, Chimere May
van Bodegom, Peter M.
Osibanjo, Oladele
Xie, Qing
Chen, Jingwen
Vijver, Martina G.
Peijnenburg, Willie J. G. M.
author_sort Ohajinwa, Chimere May
collection PubMed
description Concerns about the adverse public health consequences of informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling are increasing. This study adopted a cross-sectional study design to gain insights into health risks (cancer and non-cancer risks) associated with exposure to e-waste chemicals among informal e-waste workers via three main routes: Dermal contact, ingestion, and inhalation. The e-waste chemicals (PBDE and metals) were measured in the dust and top soils at e-waste sites (burning, dismantling, and repair sites). Adverse health risks were calculated using the EPA model developed by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States. The concentrations of the e-waste chemicals and the health risks at the e-waste sites increased as the intensity of the e-waste recycling activities increased: control sites < repair sites < dismantling sites < burning sites. Dermal contact was the main route of exposure while exposure via inhalation was negligible for both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks. Cumulative health risks via all routes of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact) exceeded the acceptable limits of both non-cancer effects and cancer risk at all e-waste sites. This indicates that overall the e-waste workers are at the risk of adverse health effects. Therefore, the importance of occupational safety programs and management regulations for e-waste workers cannot be over emphasised.
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spelling pubmed-64660492019-04-22 Health Risks of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Metals at Informal Electronic Waste Recycling Sites Ohajinwa, Chimere May van Bodegom, Peter M. Osibanjo, Oladele Xie, Qing Chen, Jingwen Vijver, Martina G. Peijnenburg, Willie J. G. M. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Concerns about the adverse public health consequences of informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling are increasing. This study adopted a cross-sectional study design to gain insights into health risks (cancer and non-cancer risks) associated with exposure to e-waste chemicals among informal e-waste workers via three main routes: Dermal contact, ingestion, and inhalation. The e-waste chemicals (PBDE and metals) were measured in the dust and top soils at e-waste sites (burning, dismantling, and repair sites). Adverse health risks were calculated using the EPA model developed by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States. The concentrations of the e-waste chemicals and the health risks at the e-waste sites increased as the intensity of the e-waste recycling activities increased: control sites < repair sites < dismantling sites < burning sites. Dermal contact was the main route of exposure while exposure via inhalation was negligible for both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks. Cumulative health risks via all routes of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact) exceeded the acceptable limits of both non-cancer effects and cancer risk at all e-waste sites. This indicates that overall the e-waste workers are at the risk of adverse health effects. Therefore, the importance of occupational safety programs and management regulations for e-waste workers cannot be over emphasised. MDPI 2019-03-13 2019-03 /pmc/articles/PMC6466049/ /pubmed/30871202 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16060906 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Ohajinwa, Chimere May
van Bodegom, Peter M.
Osibanjo, Oladele
Xie, Qing
Chen, Jingwen
Vijver, Martina G.
Peijnenburg, Willie J. G. M.
Health Risks of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Metals at Informal Electronic Waste Recycling Sites
title Health Risks of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Metals at Informal Electronic Waste Recycling Sites
title_full Health Risks of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Metals at Informal Electronic Waste Recycling Sites
title_fullStr Health Risks of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Metals at Informal Electronic Waste Recycling Sites
title_full_unstemmed Health Risks of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Metals at Informal Electronic Waste Recycling Sites
title_short Health Risks of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Metals at Informal Electronic Waste Recycling Sites
title_sort health risks of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbdes) and metals at informal electronic waste recycling sites
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30871202
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16060906
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