Severe dioxin-like compound (DLC) contamination in e-waste recycling areas: An under-recognized threat to local health

Qingyuan Dai; Xijin Xu; Brenda Eskenazi; Kwadwo Ansong Asante; Aimin Chen; Julius Fobil; Åke Bergman; Lesley Brennan; Peter D Sly; Innocent Chidi Nnorom; Antonio Pascale; Qihua Wang; Eddy Y Zeng; Zhijun Zeng; Philip J Landrigan; Marie-Noel Bruné Drisse; Xia Huo

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.105731

Severe dioxin-like compound (DLC) contamination in e-waste recycling areas: An under-recognized threat to local health

Environ Int. 2020 Jun:139:105731. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105731. Epub 2020 Apr 18.

Authors

Qingyuan Dai¹, Xijin Xu², Brenda Eskenazi³, Kwadwo Ansong Asante⁴, Aimin Chen⁵, Julius Fobil⁶, Åke Bergman⁷, Lesley Brennan⁸, Peter D Sly⁹, Innocent Chidi Nnorom¹⁰, Antonio Pascale¹¹, Qihua Wang¹, Eddy Y Zeng¹, Zhijun Zeng², Philip J Landrigan¹², Marie-Noel Bruné Drisse¹³, Xia Huo¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, School of Environment, Jinan University, China.
² Laboratory of Environmental Medicine and Developmental Toxicology, Shantou University Medical College, China.
³ School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
⁴ CSIR Water Research Institute, Accra, Ghana.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
⁶ School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Ghana.
⁷ Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Sweden; Department of Science and Technology, Örebro University, Sweden; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, China.
⁸ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Alberta, Canada.
⁹ Child Health Research Centre, University of Queensland, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Abia State University, Nigeria.
¹¹ Department of Toxicology, University of the Republic, Uruguay.
¹² Department of Biology, Boston College, USA.
¹³ Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁴ Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, School of Environment, Jinan University, China. Electronic address: xhuo@jnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32315892
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105731

Abstract

Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) burning and recycling activities have become one of the main emission sources of dioxin-like compounds (DLCs). Workers involved in e-waste recycling operations and residents living near e-waste recycling sites (EWRS) are exposed to high levels of DLCs. Epidemiological and experimental in vivo studies have reported a range of interconnected responses in multiple systems with DLC exposure. However, due to the compositional complexity of DLCs and difficulties in assessing mixture effects of the complex mixture of e-waste-related contaminants, there are few studies concerning human health outcomes related to DLC exposure at informal EWRS. In this paper, we have reviewed the environmental levels and body burdens of DLCs at EWRS and compared them with the levels reported to be associated with observable adverse effects to assess the health risks of DLC exposure at EWRS. In general, DLC concentrations at EWRS of many countries have been decreasing in recent years due to stricter regulations on e-waste recycling activities, but the contamination status is still severe. Comparison with available data from industrial sites and well-known highly DLC contaminated areas shows that high levels of DLCs derived from crude e-waste recycling processes lead to elevated body burdens. The DLC levels in human blood and breast milk at EWRS are higher than those reported in some epidemiological studies that are related to various health impacts. The estimated total daily intakes of DLCs for people in EWRS far exceed the WHO recommended total daily intake limit. It can be inferred that people living in EWRS with high DLC contamination have higher health risks. Therefore, more well-designed epidemiological studies are urgently needed to focus on the health effects of DLC pollution in EWRS. Continuous monitoring of the temporal trends of DLC levels in EWRS after actions is of highest importance.

Keywords: Dioxin-like compound; E-waste recycling site; Health risk; Human exposure; Toxicity.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Body Burden
Dioxins* / analysis
Dioxins* / toxicity
Electronic Waste*
Female
Humans
Milk, Human / chemistry
Recycling

Substances

Dioxins

Grants and funding

001/WHO_/World Health Organization/International