Something smells fishy…
Have you heard of the Daphnia magna?
The water flea (Daphnia magna), a filter feeder that consumes algae, protozoan, or organic matter (Enbiolab, n.d.).
You might not have, but it’s a crucial part of the basic food chain that helps the world go round. The water flea (Daphna magna) is a tiny planktonic crustacean that typically resides in lakes or ponds. Though it may be small, what makes it so important is that many fishes and other marine invertebrates rely on them as a source of food.
So, what has this got to do with e-waste? According to Bao et al. (2020), the Daphnia magna suffers from many adverse impacts resulting from exposure to e-waste leachate. Exposure to toxic chemicals served to slow the development of the species, as well as other impacts such as decreased egg production in females, and smaller body sizes.
This is just one example of the many marine species that may be affected by improperly disposed e-waste. Not only does exposure to e-waste leachate affect such marine species themselves by impeding their growth, it also causes multiple issues further down the food chain. For instance, the impeded development of fish food like the Daphna magna could mean that fish further down the food chain do not get enough food that they require. More importantly, the pollutants sometimes remain inside their food and get passed down the food chains, poisoning marine life. This can even have a trickle-down effect to human beings who catch and consume the contaminated fish (Zhao et al., 2006).
Clearly, this highlights how the contamination of the marine environment via e-waste leachate can pose a severe threat to both environmental and human health due to the intricate intertwined nature of the two. As mentioned before in previous posts, it is precisely because seemingly small actions can have a large ripple effect that the issue of e-waste pollution is so dangerous for the Earth we live on.
References
Bao, S., Pan, B., Wang, L., Cheng, Z., Liu, X., Zhou, Z., & Nie, X. (2020). Adverse effects in daphnia magna exposed to e-waste leachate: Assessment based on life trait changes and responses of detoxification-related genes. Environmental Research, 188, 109821-109821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109821.
Enbiolab. (n.d.). Water flea. Retrieved 27 February 2022, from http://www.enbiolabperu.com/index.php/en/ecotoxicity-tests/water-flea-daphnia-magna-ted-kinsman-2/.
Zhao, G., Xu, Y., Han, G., & Ling, B. (2006). Biotransfer of persistent organic pollutants from a large site in China used for the disassembly of electronic and electrical waste. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 28(4), 341-351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-005-9003-3.