Category: implications

Death by Cellphone: Grauer’s Gorillas

Saving the critically endangered gorillas of the Congo Basin

A critically endangered Grauer’s gorilla (Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, 2021).

You’re probably wondering what cellphones have to do with a gorilla species endemic to the forests of the Congo Basin in Africa.

They are, however, related. It’s thanks to the production of cellphones that the Gorilla beringei graueri (Grauer’s gorilla) has become critically endangered in recent years. In part due to the mining of minerals used to produce cellphones, the species has declined in population by 80% over the past 25 years (Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, 2021). Mining activities in Congo are driven by the demand for “conflict metals”,  which are used in the production of cellphones. These mining activities often take place outside regulatory frameworks and in protected areas such as the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. As a result, this threatens species like the Grauer’s gorilla as well as other endangered species in the region like eastern lowland gorillas.

This video, put together by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, is a call to action to raise awareness on the critically endangered species. Some zoos have actually capitalised on this, blending a promotion of better recycling practices with their conservation campaigns for the gorillas. One example is Zoos Victoria in Australia, which has started the ‘They’re Calling on You’ mobile phone recycling community campaign.

An Australian tourist on a gorilla tourism experience at Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Litchfield et al., 2018).

This illuminates how eco-tourism could be blended with mobile phone collection campaigns to raise awareness on the ecological impacts of e-waste pollution. According to Litchfield et al. (2018), ‘They’re Calling on You’ was highly successful—a total of 115,369 mobile phones were donated from 2009 to 2014. Close-up encounters as part of eco-tourism was also a big contributing factor to this, where one phone was donated for every four people attending keeper talks at Werribee Open Range Zoo and one phone for every 28 people attending keeper talks at Melbourne Zoo.

Though the situation for these gorillas have been dire, things seem to be looking up for the gorillas through such creative cross-themed conservation campaign efforts. This concludes our chapter on “Implications”, and we’ve also briefly discussed some possible solutions that could be undertaken. Next time, we’ll start on the “Solutions” chapter of this blog, and delve even deeper into the possible ways we can tackle the global e-waste challenge moving forward.

References

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. (2021). Good news for Grauer’s Gorillas. Retrieved 11 March 2022, from https://gorillafund.org/gorilla-protection/good-news-for-grauers-gorillas/.

Litchfield, C. A., Lowry, R., & Dorrian, J. (2018). Recycling 115,369 mobile phones for gorilla conservation over a six-year period (2009-2014) at Zoos Victoria: A case study of ‘points of influence’ and mobile phone donations. PloS One, 13(12), e0206890-e0206890. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206890.

The World’s Largest E-Waste Dumping Ground

Feeding the informal sector: Migrants in Guiyu

In the last post, we talked about the health impacts of working and scavenging at e-waste dumpsites in Nigeria. Since these dumpsites sound so dangerous, wouldn’t it be better to just get rid of them as a whole? Unfortunately, the problem is a lot more complicated than that. This time, let’s have a look at another similar example. Rather than the health impacts, however, let’s focus on the socio-economic intricacies related to these dumpsites.

Guiyu, located in the Chinese province of Guangdong, has one claim to fame—it’s the world’s largest e-waste dumping ground.

Worker sorts through e-waste in one of the government-managed recycling centres located in Guiyu (Sommer, 2015).

In Guiyu, migrants from neighbouring cities like Hunan and Anhui account for about 70% of e-waste workers. These migrants move to cities like Guiyu in search of jobs in the city’s e-waste sector, engaging in informal activities to make a living. Such informal work is relatively lucrative, especially compared to formal activities, which often require permits and paperwork that many of these migrants cannot provide. This has thus lead to the creation of a booming informal e-waste sector in Chinese cities like Guiyu, which makes up as much as 98% of all e-waste activities in the country (Abalansa et al., 2021).

Many of these migrant workers have little education and are of less privileged socio-economic backgrounds, putting them at risk of being exploited for the low-skill work that they engage in. They are also less likely to follow safety guidelines in order to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity, to maximise their income from their work. Reports of child labour have also plagued the city. An article on the plight of migrant workers in the e-waste sector in China describes the experience of working in Guiyu:

Li Xiu Lan traveled the breadth of China to escape destitution in Sichuan province. Here on a Guiyu sidewalk, she is pulling apart a PC carcass, earning about 17 cents an hour as she exposes herself to a witch’s brew of chemicals without gloves, goggles or other protection.

‘I don’t know yet if I like this work,’ said Li, 30, who had been on the job about one month. ‘But back home, there are no jobs. There is no money. There is nothing to do.’ 

Even though the health impacts of toxic e-waste sites are obvious, the nature of working in informal sectors and the socio-economic backgrounds of the workers at such sites render them especially vulnerable to risks related to working in the informal e-waste sector. Moreover, these workers tend to have no choice but to continue working under such awful conditions, due to their lack of other work options.

Eradicating the informal e-waste sector as a whole, while a tempting solution for governments, would mean that thousands of workers who rely on the sector to make a living would suddenly be out of jobs. This highlights how the e-waste sector is deeply intertwined with structural inequalities and disparities in society, and requires carefully curated solutions to effectively address the problem and preserve the livelihoods of affected workers.

References

Abalansa, S., El Mahrad, B., Icely, J., & Newton, A. (2021). Electronic waste, an environmental problem exported to developing countries: The GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 13(9), 5302. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095302.

China Labour Bulletin. (2015). The Plight of China’s E-Waste Workers. Retrieved 7 March 2022, from https://clb.org.hk/content/plight-chinas-e-waste-workers.

Sommer, J. (2015). The world’s largest electronic-waste dump looks like a post-apocalyptic nightmare. Insider. Retrieved 7 March 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-chinas-electronic-waste-dump-town-guiyu-2015-7.

Health Risks in Nigeria

Health Impacts of E-Waste Pollution: The case of Nigeria

Previously, we discussed the various impacts that e-waste pollution can have on the environment—soil, air, and water. Naturally, this doesn’t just affect the environment around us; it also has significant consequences for us as human beings. In today’s post, we’ll be focusing on real-life case studies demonstrating the potential health risks that come with e-waste disposal in developing countries. Here’s a video by the UN Environment Programme that explains what dismantlers in Nigeria have to go through when handling e-waste that gets dumped in their country.

According to the video, Nigeria receives up to 70,000 tonnes of used electronics from developed countries every year. Imagine that!

The dangers of e-waste in Nigeria are compounded by the fact that the country only has crude and informal recycling methods, and are poorly equipped to handle the large amounts of e-waste dumped there (Manhart et al., 2011). Coupled by the fact that many dumpsites and electronic markets are situated within residential areas, human exposure to the hazards of e-waste has been increasing exponentially in the past decade.

Diagram on the effects of e-waste exposure in Nigeria (Alabi et al., 2020).

A study conducted on scavenging teenagers who frequent such dumpsites in Nigeria found that the toxic constituents of e-waste contributed to high blood heavy metal levels in the teenagers, and subsequently, lasting DNA damage. Other observed health effects also include body aches, migraine, nausea, spontaneous abortion, and cancer (Alabi & Bakare, 2015).

From this, it is evident that there is an urgent need to address the dumping of e-waste due to its extensive health risks, particularly in developing nations which receive the brunt of the issue.

References

Alabi, O. A., Adeoluwa, Y. M., & Bakare, A. A. (2020). Elevated serum pb, ni, cd, and cr levels and DNA damage in exfoliated buccal cells of teenage scavengers at a major electronic waste dumpsite in Lagos, Nigeria. Biological Trace Element Research, 194(1), 24-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-019-01745-z.

Alabi, O. A. & Bakare, A. A. (2015). Perceived public health effects of occupational and residential exposure to electronic wastes in Lagos, Nigeria. Zoologist, 13(2015), 62-71.

Manhart, A., Osibanjo, O., Aderinto, A., & Prakash, S. (2011). Informal e-waste management in Lagos, Nigeria – socio-economic impacts and feasibility of international recycling co-operations. UNEP SBC E-Waste Africa Project, Lagos/Freiburg.

Water Pollution and Marine Life

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.

Air Quality at E-Waste Sites

Coming up for air: PM10 concentrations at e-waste sites

Air pollution on the banks of the Ramganga, Moradabad, where thousands rely on clearing and processing e-waste to make a living (Johri, 2017).

We often hear about the air pollution that blankets countries like India and China. In places like Moradabad, India, the thick smog has actually been attributed to the problem of e-waste pollution.

According to Gangwar et al. (2019), illegal e-waste recycling was a major cause of increase in PM10 concentration in Moradabad. The intense air pollution levels that the city suffered through in 2018 exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQ) standards. In January 2018, the highest PM10 concentration of 371 μg/m3 was recorded, which was a whopping 3.71 times higher than the NAAQ standard.

Moradabad is home to a large informal e-waste recycling sector, being a hub for the recycling of products like printed circuit boards (PCBs). The informal sector uses crude and rudimentary methods to process e-waste, such as dismantling, combustion, incineration and open burning. During processes such as the mechanical separation and dismantling of PCBs, fine particulate matter gets released into the air. Gangwar et al. (2019) concluded that such methods were what resulted in the high levels of air particulate matter recorded, especially heavy metal levels.

Air pollution is just one of the direct impacts of improper e-waste disposal. This can, of course, have many serious implications for the humans living and breathing in such contaminated air. We’ll discuss the human impacts of living in proximity to such e-waste polluted sites in future posts. Stay tuned for more!

References

Gangwar, C., Choudhari, R., Chauhan, A., Kumar, A., Singh, A., & Tripathi, A. (2019). Assessment of air pollution caused by illegal e-waste burning to evaluate the human health risk. Environment International, 125, 191-199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.11.051.

Johri, A. D. (2017). On November 7, Moradabad recorded highest levels on pollution scale, but few were looking. The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 February 2022, from https://indianexpress.com/article/india/on-november-7-moradabad-aqi-500-recorded-highest-levels-on-pollution-scale-4943930/.

The Ecological Impacts of E-Waste Pollution

When e-waste becomes a problem

This posts marks the beginning of the “Implications” chapter, where we’ll focus on the consequences of e-waste pollution and how it can affect the world we live in in various ways.

After the previous “Origins” chapter, you might be wondering—what’s so awful about e-waste, anyway?

E-waste tends to contain harmful substances, such as organic pollutants (e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)). They usually also contain amounts of heavy metals like lead, zinc, copper and cadmium (Liu et al., 2015). The hazardous substances found in e-waste can potentially end up being released into the environment, especially if the e-waste is recycled or disposed of improperly.

As mentioned in previous weeks, e-waste is generally exported from developed to developing countries. A whopping 82.6% of global e-waste is recycled informally in unorganised sectors (Rautela et al., 2021), which magnifies the pollution risks from the toxic chemicals.

Routes of pollutants into the environment due to informal e-waste disposal and recycling practices (Rautela et al., 2021).

The toxic substances in e-waste can find its way into the environment via various pathways illustrated in the diagram above. Pollutive impacts include the contamination of:

  • soil (through the leaching of toxic elements and effluent discharge)
  • air (open burning of circuit boards, emission of toxic fumes and suspended particulate matter), and
  • water (acidic effluent discharge, washing of circuit boards, disposing the waste residue into the nearby drainage systems) (Rautela et al., 2021).

These subsequently create a ripple effect, disrupting the ecological balance of the environment around us. For instance, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were found to have migrated into the environment in Longtang Town, Guangdong Province, China, which is home to one of China’s largest e-waste recycling sites (Wang et al., 2012). Higher levels of PAHs were discovered in the soil and vegetation near the dumpsites, as compared to elsewhere. These then entered the food chain through vegetables, prompting Wang et al. (2012) to advise against vegetable cultivation near the e-waste recycling sites.

The contamination of soil and vegetation is merely the tip of the iceberg—one of the most basic and direct impacts that e-waste pollution can have on the environment. Next time, we’ll discuss more about the air and water pollutive potential of e-waste disposal. See you then!

References

Liu, J., He, X., Lin, X., Chen, W., Zhou, Q., Shu, W., & Huang, L. (2015). Ecological effects of combined pollution associated with E‑Waste recycling on the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities. Environmental Science & Technology, 49(11), 6438-6447. https://doi.org/10.1021/es5049804.

Rautela, R., Arya, S., Vishwakarma, S., Lee, J., Kim, K., & Kumar, S. (2021). E-waste management and its effects on the environment and human health. The Science of the Total Environment, 773, 145623-145623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145623.

Wang, Y., Tian, Z., Zhu, H., Cheng, Z., Kang, M., Luo, C., Li, J., & Zhang, G. (2012). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils and vegetation near an e-waste recycling site in South China: Concentration, distribution, source, and risk assessment. The Science of the Total Environment, 439, 187-193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.08.018.