WEEE Treatment in Developing Countries: Environmental Pollution and Health Consequences—An Overview

Mentore Vaccari, Giovanni Vinti, Alessandra Cesaro, Vincenzo Belgiorno, Stefan Salhofer, Maria Isabel Dias and Aleksander Jandric
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Mentore Vaccari: Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Giovanni Vinti: Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Alessandra Cesaro: Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy
Vincenzo Belgiorno: Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy
Stefan Salhofer: Waste Management Institute, BOKU University, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Maria Isabel Dias: Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares—C2TN, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Polo de Loures, Instituto Superior Técnico, Estrada Nacional 10, km 139.7, 2696-066 Loures, Portugal
Aleksander Jandric: Waste Management Institute, BOKU University, 1190 Vienna, Austria

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: In the last few decades, the rapid technological evolution has led to a growing generation of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Not rarely, it has been exported from industrialized to developing countries, where it represents a secondary source of valuable materials such as gold, copper, and silver. The recycling of WEEE is often carried out without any environmental and health protection. This paper reviews recent literature dealing with the informal treatment of WEEE in developing regions, gathering and analyzing data on concentration of both inorganic and organic pollutants in the environment. Open burning practices are revealed as most polluting ‘technology’, followed by mechanical treatment and leaching. Significant levels of pollutants have been detected in human bodies, both children and adults, working in or living in areas with informal WEEE treatment.

Keywords: environmental pollution; enrichment factor; e-waste; health impact; heavy metals; informal treatment; metalloids; organic pollutants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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