IMPACT, Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Instituttveien 18, 2007 Kjeller, Norway.
Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2019 Dec 11;21(12):2042-2057. doi: 10.1039/c9em00444k.
Electronic waste (e-waste) is informally processed and recycled in Agbogbloshie in Accra (Ghana), which may be the largest such site in West Africa. This industry can lead to significant environmental contamination. In this study, surface dust samples were collected at a range of sites within Accra to establish the offsite consequences of such activities. Fifty-one samples were collected and analysed for 69 elements by ICP-mass spectrometry after nitric acid digestion. The data indicated a significant enrichment in metals associated with solder and copper wire at the site itself and a downwind dispersion of this source material to a distance of approximately 2.0 km. Chlorine and bromine were also elevated at this site as residues from polyvinyl chloride combustion and flame retardants respectively. The elemental composition indicated that only low technology electrical equipment was being treated this way. Multivariate statistical analyses by principal components analysis and polytopic vector analysis identified three sources contributing to the system; (i) burn site residue dispersing within 2 km from the source site, (ii) marine matter on the beaches alone and (iii) the baseline soil conditions of the city of Accra. Risk ratios and hazard quotients developed from the measured concentrations indicated that copper was providing the greatest risk to inhabitants in most cases although nickel, vanadium, chromium and zinc also contributed.
电子废物(e-waste)在加纳阿克拉的阿博布罗西(Agbogbloshie)被非正式地处理和回收,这里可能是西非最大的此类地点。该行业可能导致严重的环境污染。在这项研究中,在阿克拉的一系列地点采集了表面灰尘样本,以确定此类活动的场外后果。对 51 个样本进行了硝酸消解后,通过 ICP-质谱法分析了 69 种元素。数据表明,在该地点本身,与焊料和铜线相关的金属有明显的富集,并且这种源材料向下风向扩散到大约 2.0 公里的距离。氯和溴也在该地点升高,分别是聚氯乙烯燃烧和阻燃剂的残留物。元素组成表明,只有低技术的电气设备以这种方式进行处理。通过主成分分析和多拓扑向量分析的多元统计分析确定了三个对系统有贡献的来源;(i)燃烧地点的残留物在距源地点 2 公里范围内分散,(ii)仅海滩上的海洋物质,以及(iii)阿克拉市的基础土壤条件。根据测量浓度得出的风险比和危害系数表明,在大多数情况下,铜对居民构成了最大的风险,尽管镍、钒、铬和锌也有贡献。