A Review of Biomarkers Used for Assessing Human Exposure to Metals from E-Waste

Abstract

Electronic waste recycling presents workers and communities with a potential for exposures to dangerous chemicals, including metals. This review examines studies that report on blood, hair, and urine biomarkers of communities and workers exposed to metals from e-waste. Our results from the evaluation of 19 publications found that there are consistently elevated levels of lead found in occupationally and non-occupationally exposed populations, in both the formal and the informal e-waste recycling sectors. Various other metals were found to be elevated in different exposure groups assessed using various types of biomarkers, but with less consistency than found in lead. Antimony and cadmium generally showed higher concentrations in exposed groups compared to reference group(s). Mercury and arsenic did not show a trend among exposure groups due to the dietary and environmental considerations. Observed variations in trends amongst exposure groups within studies using multiple biomarkers highlights the need to carefully select appropriate biomarkers. Our study concludes that there is a need for more rigorous research that moves past cross-sectional study designs, involves more thoughtful and methodical selection of biomarkers, and a systematic reporting standard for exposure studies to ensure that results can be compared across studies.

HBM4EU Occupational Biomonitoring Study on e-Waste—Study Protocol

“…This may prevent e-waste from being dumped in, and also outside, European countries and would support more sustainable processing of this waste stream in line with the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal [ 18 ]. A recent literature review by Arain and Neitzel (2019) [ 19 ] showed that, so far, occupational exposures occurring in this sector were only studied in one European country [ 20 ]. We identified a second study also reporting on the use of biomonitoring to assess the level of exposure to metals [ 21 ].…”

Metal Levels, Genetic Instability, and Renal Markers in Electronic Waste Workers in Thailand

“…Our study also represents an important expansion in e-waste research beyond the countries where most similar research has been done (eg, China, India, and Ghana). 6,38,39 In conclusion, our study showed that longer working hours and smoking contribute to increased exposures to a number of metals among informal male e-waste recycling workers in Thailand, and an association between metal exposures and increased oxidative stress and renal markers among female e-waste recyclers. Given these results, health promotion effortsincluding smoking cessation-should be directed to these workers to improve their health and prevent disease.…”

Global research into the relationship between electronic waste and health over the last 10 years: A scientometric analysis

“…It indicates that the research hotspot should include e-waste, heavy metal exposure, and the corresponding management. Future research directions may include the exposure probability of occupational and non-occupational groups, the exposure probability and degree of different occupational groups, the application of nanomaterials and other emerging materials to replace heavy metal materials in electronic products, and the development of environmentally friendly and effective recycling methods for electronic pollutants ( 56 ). There has been an increase in the attention paid to biohydrometallurgy because the main advantages of biohydrometallurgy compared to other methods include low operating and maintenance costs, a low energy input, the use of natural resources such as air and water, a low environmental impact, and operation at ambient temperature and pressure, which is more in line with the principles of the circular economy ( 57 ).…”

“…Then, we analyzed the organization's co-authorship of over five papers and obtained the results for 42 institutions. The top five institutions in terms of the strength of their total links were Jinan University (59), Shantou University (58), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (56), the University of Ghana (30), and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (20; Table 3, Figure 5A). Over time, the average years of contributions in this field by these organizations are closer to the recent, such as Nanjing Medical University, Guangdong University of Technology, South China Normal University, Synergy Innovation Institution GDUT, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, and so on (Figure 5B).…”