Abstract
End-of-life vehicles and e-waste contain several hazardous substances that can contaminate the environment during treatment processes. Occurrences and adverse effects of toxic organic pollutants emitted from 3 shredder plants located in Wallonia, Belgium, were investigated by chemical and biological analyses of fluff, dust, and scrubbing sludge sampled in 2019. Site 1 showed the highest concentrations of chlorinated compounds in sludge with 7.5 ng/g polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins/furans and 84.5 µg/g estimated total polychlorinated biphenyls, while site 3 led the brominated flame retardant levels in dust (53.4 µg/g). The level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was highest in the sludge samples, 78 and 71 µg/g for sites 2 and 3, respectively. The samples induced significant dioxin-like activities in murine and human cells at concentrations of around 0.01–0.1 and 0.5–1 ng (sample) per ml (medium), respectively, with the efficacy similar to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin and EC50 values of around 1 and 10 ng/ml. The samples also displayed high estrogenic activities, already at 1 ng/ml, and several induced a response as efficient as 17β-estradiol, albeit a low androgenic activity. Shredder workers were estimated to be highly exposed to dioxin-like compounds through dust ingestion and dermal absorption, which is of concern.
Highlights
Impressive amounts of waste from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) and electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste) are generated every year
The aims of the present study were to further investigate the oc currences and adverse effects of toxic organic pollutants emitted from the 3 shredder plants in Wallonia as in Dufour et al (2020): (i) measure the occurrences of several toxic organic pollutants (PCDD/Fs, PXDD/Fs, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalates, polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), poly chlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), short chain chlori nated paraffins (SCCPs), plasticizers, and others) in fluff, dust, and sludge samples, (ii) investigate in vitro toxic effects of the samples on 7 luciferase reporter gene cell lines for dioxin, estrogenic, androgenic, and oxidative stress responsiveness, and (iii) identify the contributions of compounds/groups for the chemical com positions and bioactivities
Data for PCNs, PFASs, phthalates, hexabromobiphenyl, and hexa chlorobutadiene were mostly below limit of quantitation (LOQ), they were subsequently excluded from further analyses
Summary
Impressive amounts of waste from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) and electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste) are generated every year. Europe produces 12 million tons of e-waste (2019) (Eurostat, 2021) and 8–9 million tons of ELVs every year (EC, 2018). Speaking, they are ’urban mines’ which value billions USD POPs adversely affect human and environmental health Once generated, they are persistent in the environment for a long period of time, and susceptible to bio magnification and long-range transportation (Walker, 2009; Yu et al, 2011). Usage, and release of POPs are sup posed to be reduced and abolished according to the 2 international le gally binding instruments, UNECE’s “Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air
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