Abstract
Guiyu accommodates millions of tons of e-waste from overseas and domestic sources each year and is notorious for its e-waste dismantling industry. As a consequence, Guiyu has been described as “the world’s most toxic place” and “junk town”. Informal e-waste recycling activities have caused severe pollution to the local environment and are associated with extensive health problems to the residents. This review provides updated insights on the body burden of heavy metals derived from e-waste and health outcomes resulted from lead (Pb) exposure. The review identified that Guiyu has been highly contaminated by heavy metals, especially Pb. Excessive exposure to Pb has been associated with multi-system and long-term effects in neonates and children, covering nervous, cardiovascular, adaptive immune, and hematologic systems as well as chromosome and DNA damage. Our review indicates strong associations that emphasize the need to develop strong regulations for prevention of exposure and health consequences in Guiyu and similar sites around the world.
Highlights
The derived waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE, or e-waste) is the fastest growing solid waste stream worldwide, and its management is a significant environmental health concern
blood lead levels (BLLs) of children in Guiyu have been reduced from around 15 μg/dL to 6.00 μg/dL in the past ten years (Figure 2), the current BLLs of children are still higher than that of reference areas, indicating that children are more sensitive to e-waste exposure and have higher potential health effects compared with adults
Zhang and colleagues [70] indicated that developmental exposure to high levels of Pb resulted in an increase in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level and a decrease in child olfactory memory
Summary
The derived waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE, or e-waste) is the fastest growing solid waste stream worldwide, and its management is a significant environmental health concern. 18, 12428 contamination from their parents’ clothes and skin They confront direct high-level exposure if their homes are used as family-run disposal and recycling workshops. For these reasons, the environmental burden of HMs has been aggravated [7,8], posing various[6]. The primary objective of this study was to provide comprehensive information on contamination from their parents’ clothes and skin They confront direct highthe body burden and temporal trend of HMs in. (i) purpose of the study was to monitor body burden of HMs generated from ubiquitous metal derived from e-waste) and adverse health outcomes. A total of 73 articles were sure to monitor the body burden of HMs, of which 54 discussed the correlations between Pb exposure and health outcomes
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