Environmental Public Health Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, United States.
National Research Council , Washington, District of Columbia 20001, United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2015 Oct 6;49(19):11543-50. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.5b03263. Epub 2015 Sep 14.
Disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) in landfills, incinerators, or at rudimentary recycling sites can lead to the release of toxic chemicals into the environment and increased health risks. Developing e-waste recycling technologies at commercial facilities can reduce the release of toxic chemicals and efficiently recover valuable materials. While these e-waste operations represent a vast improvement over previous approaches, little is known about environmental releases, workplace exposures, and potential health impacts. In this study, airborne particulate matter (PM) was measured at various locations within a modern U.S.-based e-waste recycling facility that utilized mechanical processing. In addition, composite size fractionated PM (coarse, fine and ultrafine) samples were collected, extracted, chemically analyzed, and given by oropharyngeal aspiration to mice or cultured with lung slices for lung toxicity tests. Indoor total PM concentrations measured during the study ranged from 220 to 1200 μg/m(3). In general, the coarse PM (2.5-10 μm) was 3-4 times more abundant than fine/ultrafine PM (<2.5 μm). The coarse PM contained higher levels of Ni, Pb, and Zn (up to 6.8 times) compared to the fine (0.1-2.5 μm) and ultrafine (<0.1 μm) PM. Compared to coarse PM measurements from a regional near-roadway study, Pb and Ni were enriched 170 and 20 times, respectively, in the indoor PM, with other significant enrichments (>10 times) observed for Zn and Sb, modest enrichments (>5 times) for Cu and Sr, and minor enrichments (>2 times) for Cr, Cd, Mn, Ca, Fe, and Ba. Negligible enrichment (<2 times) or depletion (<1 time) were observed for Al, Mg, Ti, Si, and V. The coarse PM fraction elicited significant pro-inflammatory responses in the mouse lung at 24 h postexposure compared to the fine and ultrafine PM, and similar toxicity outcomes were observed in the lung slice model. We conclude that exposure to coarse PM from the facility caused substantial inflammation in the mouse lung and enrichment of these metals compared to levels normally present in the ambient PM could be of potential health concern.
电子废物（电子垃圾）在垃圾填埋场、焚烧炉或简陋的回收场所的处置会导致有毒化学物质释放到环境中，增加健康风险。在商业设施中开发电子废物回收技术可以减少有毒化学物质的释放，并有效地回收有价值的材料。虽然这些电子废物处理方法比以前的方法有了很大的改进，但对于环境释放、工作场所暴露和潜在的健康影响知之甚少。在这项研究中，在美国的一家电子废物回收工厂内的不同位置测量了空气传播的颗粒物（PM）。此外，还收集、提取、化学分析了复合尺寸分级的 PM（粗、细和超细）样品，并通过口咽吸入或与肺切片一起培养进行肺毒性测试。研究期间测量的室内总 PM 浓度范围为 220 至 1200 μg/m(3)。一般来说，粗 PM（2.5-10 μm）比细/超细 PM（<2.5 μm）多 3-4 倍。与细 PM（0.1-2.5 μm）和超细 PM（<0.1 μm）相比，粗 PM 中 Ni、Pb 和 Zn 的含量更高（高达 6.8 倍）。与来自区域道路附近研究的粗 PM 测量值相比，室内 PM 中的 Pb 和 Ni 分别富集了 170 倍和 20 倍，Zn 和 Sb 的富集程度也显著提高（>10 倍），Cu 和 Sr 的富集程度适中（>5 倍），Cr、Cd、Mn、Ca、Fe 和 Ba 的富集程度较小（>2 倍）。Al、Mg、Ti、Si 和 V 的富集程度可忽略（<2 倍）或耗尽（<1 倍）。与细 PM 和超细 PM 相比，粗 PM 组在暴露后 24 小时对小鼠肺部引起明显的促炎反应，在肺切片模型中观察到类似的毒性结果。我们得出结论，与环境 PM 中通常存在的水平相比，设施中的粗 PM 暴露会导致小鼠肺部出现大量炎症，这些金属的富集可能会对健康造成潜在的关注。
