School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Centre of West African Studies, Department of African Studies & Anthropology, School of History and Cultures, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Environ Pollut. 2021 Jan 1;268(Pt A):115727. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115727. Epub 2020 Sep 26.
Informal electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) handling activities constitute a potentially important source of halogenated (HFRs) and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) to the environment and humans. In this review, two electronic databases (ScienceDirect and Web of Science Core Collection) were searched for papers that addressed this topic. A total of 82 relevant studies (including 72 studies selected from the two databases and 10 studies located from the references of the first 72 selected studies) were identified that reported on human external and internal exposure to HFRs and OPFRs arising as a result of informal e-waste handling activities. Compared to the general population, higher levels of external exposure (i.e., inhalation, ingestion, and dermal absorption) and internal exposure (i.e., blood serum, hair, breast milk, urine, and other human matrices) to HFRs and OPFRs were identified for e-waste recyclers and residents inhabiting e-waste dismantling and recycling zones, especially for younger adults and children. Food intake and dust ingestion were the dominant exposure pathways for the majority of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and dechlorane plus (DP); while inhalation was identified as the most significant pathway of human exposure to OPFRs in informal e-waste sites. The majority of research to date has focused on China and thus future studies should be conducted in other regions such as Africa and South Asia. Other suggested foci of future research are: examination of exposure via dermal contact with e-waste, dietary exposure of local populations to OPFRs, confirmation of the existence of and cause(s) of the higher body burdens of females compared with males amongst populations impacted by informal e-waste handling, and characterisation of exposure of such populations to chlorinated paraffins.
非正式电子电气废物（e-waste）处理活动是环境和人类中卤化（HFRs）和有机磷阻燃剂（OPFRs）的一个潜在重要来源。在本综述中，我们在两个电子数据库（ScienceDirect 和 Web of Science Core Collection）中搜索了涉及该主题的论文。共确定了 82 项相关研究（包括从这两个数据库中选择的 72 项研究和从前 72 项选定研究的参考文献中找到的 10 项研究），这些研究报告了由于非正式电子废物处理活动而导致人类对外源和内源暴露于 HFRs 和 OPFRs 的情况。与一般人群相比，电子废物回收者和居住在电子废物拆解和回收区的居民的 HFRs 和 OPFRs 外部暴露（即吸入、摄入和皮肤吸收）和内部暴露（即血清、头发、母乳、尿液和其他人体基质）水平更高，尤其是年轻人和儿童。食物摄入和灰尘摄入是大多数溴化阻燃剂（BFRs）和十氯酮（DP）的主要暴露途径；而在非正式电子废物场所，吸入被认为是人类接触 OPFRs 的最重要途径。迄今为止，大多数研究都集中在中国，因此未来的研究应该在其他地区进行，如非洲和南亚。未来研究的其他建议重点是：研究通过与电子废物皮肤接触的暴露情况、当地人群对 OPFRs 的饮食暴露情况、确认受非正式电子废物处理影响的人群中女性与男性相比更高的身体负荷的存在和原因、以及此类人群对氯化石蜡的暴露特征。
