Chemical hazards associated with treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment

Journal Article · Sat Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Waste Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2010.08.014· OSTI ID:21541760

Tsydenova, Oyuna ^[1]; Bengtsson, Magnus ^[1]

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1. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0115 (Japan)

This review paper summarizes the existing knowledge on the chemical hazards associated with recycling and other end-of-life treatment options of waste electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste). The hazards arise from the presence of heavy metals (e.g., mercury, cadmium, lead, etc.), flame retardants (e.g., pentabromophenol, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA), etc.) and other potentially harmful substances in e-waste. If improperly managed, the substances may pose significant human and environmental health risks. The review describes the potentially hazardous content of e-waste, examines the existing e-waste management practices and presents scientific data on human exposure to chemicals, workplace and environmental pollution associated with the three major e-waste management options, i.e., recycling, incineration and landfilling. The existing e-waste management practices and associated hazards are reviewed separately for developed and developing countries. Finally, based on this review, the paper identifies gaps in the existing knowledge and makes some recommendations for future research.

• OSTI ID: 21541760
• Journal Information: Waste Management, Vol. 31, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2010.08.014; PII: S0956-053X(10)00439-3; Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0956-053X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CADMIUM
CHEMICAL WASTES
COMBUSTION
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HEAVY METALS
LEAD
MERCURY
PHENYL ETHER
POLLUTION
RECOMMENDATIONS
RECYCLING
REVIEWS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
ETHERS
HAZARDS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
NONRADIOACTIVE WASTES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTES