Toxicity trends in E-Waste: A comparative analysis of metals in discarded mobile phones

Abstract

Mobile phones and various electronic products contribute to the world's fastest-growing category of hazardous waste with international repercussions. We investigated the trends in potential human health impacts and ecotoxicity of waste mobile phones through quantitative life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods and regulatory total threshold limit concentrations. A market-dominant sample of waste basic phones and smartphones manufactured between 2001 and 2015, were analyzed for toxicity trends based on 19 chemicals. The results of the LCIA (using USEtox model) show an increase in the relative mass of toxic materials over the 15year period. We found no significant changes in the use of toxic components in basic phones, whereas smartphones contained a statistically significant increase in the content of toxic materials from 2006 to 2015. Nickel contributed the largest risk for carcinogens in mobile phones, but the contributions of lead and beryllium were also notable. Silver, zinc and copper contents were associated with non-cancer health risks. Copper components at 45,818-77,938 PAF m 3 /kg dominated ecotoxicity risks in mobile phones. Overall, these results highlight the increasing importance of monitoring trends in materials use for electronic product manufacturing and electronicwaste management processes that should prevent human and environmental exposures to toxic components.

Celulares Contaminación, manejo de residuos y alternativas de cambio

“…Como variable para añadir a las complicaciones que pueden proceder del uso de un teléfono móvil es la toxicidad, puesto que la composición de estos necesita de elementos que generan no solo una contaminación para el medio ambiente, sino que suponen un riesgo para la salud humana. Los niveles de toxicidad varían según el tipo de teléfono móvil, como lo expone Singh et al (2019) en su estudio, demostrando que el teléfono posee sustancias que resultan nocivas, pero son indispensables para la fabricación y funcionamiento de los celulares. Teniendo en cuenta que los componentes varían en tipo y volumen, pueden ser clasificados por su cantidad y toxicidad.…”

“…Con el fin de identificar los materiales tóxicos que se encuentran en los celulares, Singh et al (2019) evalúan por medio de un estudio, expuesto en Tendencias de toxicidad en los desechos electrónicos: un análisis comparativo de metales en teléfonos móviles desechados, que los celulares deben ser clasificados para establecer la cantidad de agentes contaminantes, los cuales están presentes en la composición física del teléfono (excluyendo la batería y la carcaza de estos). Vemos como la clasificación desemboca en 2 grandes categorías: teléfonos básicos y teléfonos inteligentes, con la particularidad de que estos habían sido fabricados entre los años 2001 y 2015.…”

Zero E-waste: Regulatory impediments and blockchain imperatives

“…However, they have also revealed policy differences across jurisdictional boundaries, which calls for global regulations and policies under the United Nations' authority. In addition gaps in research to improve understanding of resource recovery and recycling has become important in the context of proprietary product design strategies and protection of intellectual property rights, while also ensuring that electronic products contain sufficient innovative features to attract new and existing customers to purchase new models that are released periodically (Chen et al, 2018;Singh et al, 2019).…”

“…3 Electronic product life cycle information should inform guide E-waste management and regulatory approaches Traditionally, researchers have developed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology as a useful tool for identifying opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and to promote innovation through changing product design, improving recycling, or reducing energy and resource use. LCA methods to quantitatively evaluate environmental impacts across product life cycle stages have become commonplace, but rarely do these methods account for chemical toxicity (Hibbert and Ogunseitan, 2014;Chen et al, 2018;Singh et al, 2019). Moreover, these methods cannot be easily used early in the design process due to severe limitations in databases and methodological sophistication.…”

Evaluation of Elements Distribution in Printed Circuit Boards From Mobile Phones by Micro X-Ray Fluorescence

“…Mobile phones are one of the main items present in WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment). In recent decades, a dramatic increase has been witnessed in the use of this kind of product in line with the progress of technology (Kasper et al, 2011a;Hira et al, 2018;Singh et al, 2019). Although the technical lifespan of mobile phones is approx.…”