Multiple elemental exposures amongst workers at the Agbogbloshie electronic waste (e-waste) site in Ghana

Abstract

Electronic waste (e-waste) recycling is growing worldwide and raising a number of environmental health concerns. One of the largest e-waste sites is Agbogbloshie (Ghana). While several toxic elements have been reported in Agbogbloshie’s environment, there is limited knowledge of human exposures there. The objectives of this study were to characterize exposures to several essential (copper, iron, manganese, selenium, zinc) and toxic (arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, mercury, nickel, lead) elements in the urine and blood of male workers (n=58) at Agbogbloshie, as well as females (n=11) working in activities that serve the site, and to relate these exposures to sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. The median number of years worked at the site was 5, and the average worker indicated being active in 6.8 tasks (of 9 key e-waste job categories). Additionally, we categorized four main e-waste activities (in brackets % of population self-reported main activity): dealing (22.4%), sorting (24.1%), dismantling (50%), and burning (3.4%) e-waste materials. Many blood and urinary elements (including essential ones) were within biomonitoring reference ranges. However, blood cadmium (1.2 ug/L median) and lead (6.4 ug/dl; 67% above U.S. CDC/NIOSH reference level), and urinary arsenic (38.3 ug/L; 39% above U.S. ATSDR value) levels were elevated compared to background populations elsewhere. Workers who burned e-waste tended to have the highest biomarker levels. The findings of this study contribute to a growing body of work at Agbogbloshie (and elsewhere) to document that individuals working within e-waste sites are exposed to a number of toxic elements, some at potentially concerning levels.

Dietary predictors of urinary cadmium among pregnant women and children

“…Urine was collected in sterile cups and samples were aliquot an hour after collection, frozen at -20 degrees Fahrenheit, and then moved to -70 degree Fahrenheit freezer for storage. The UCd was determined as previously described (Basu et al 2010; Srigboh et al 2016). Briefly, 0.5 mL of sample was digested with an equal volume of concentrated nitric acid and allowed to sit overnight in a fume hood.…”

“…Briefly, 0.5 mL of sample was digested with an equal volume of concentrated nitric acid and allowed to sit overnight in a fume hood. The following morning Milli-Q water was carefully added to the digest to bring the acid content to 2% (Srigboh et al 2016). The digest was analyzed for Cd using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICPMS; Varian 820MS).…”

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

“…Our study is one of the first to evaluate the impacts of metals exposures on renal damage and genetic instability markers among informal e-waste recycling workers, and one of the first to evaluate body burden of metals among e-waste recycling workers in Thailand. With a mean age of 46 years, our sample of e-waste recycling workers was older than those of many other studies; [23][24][25] with the sample roughly split between men and women, it was also more sex-balanced than many studies. While both men and women in this study appeared to do similar e-waste recycling work, we found significantly higher levels of blood Cd and Pb in men than women (Table 1).…”

“…e-waste recycling consists of a variety of activities, and the pattern and types of toxicants vary depending on the equipment being recycled. 1,24 Use of a holistic marker of DNA and RNA damage, such as 8-OHdG, allows for assessment of oxidative stress resulting from a variety of exposures, and as such, 8-OHdG represents a useful tool for health monitoring among e-waste recyclers to assess genetic instability (and, therefore, cancer risk) associated Health Risk in Electronic Waste Workers with their varied tasks and exposures. We observed an association between 8-OHdG and working hours in men ( Fig 2); we did not observe a similar correlation in women, suggesting that there may be sex-based differences in work-related oxidative stress.…”

Trace metals’ contamination in water and soils in the vicinity of a small–medium waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling plant

“…Substitution of these hazardous elements in electronics manufacture is yet unfeasible despite the specialist's efforts. Therefore, protection of employees in recycling plants is an additional problem and should be considered during the design and implementation of recycling processes . Thus, the enormous environmental benefits of electronic waste recycling is opposed to high environmental risks in areas near recycling facilities.…”