E-waste recycling and public exposure to organic compounds in developing countries: a review of recycling practices and toxicity levels in Ghana

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews e-waste practices and aggregates the toxicity levels of organic compounds in different environmental media and human body fluids resulting from e-waste recycling activities in Ghana. Literature was searched from three academic databases (Science Direct, SpringerLink and PUBMED). Research articles published in English from 2010 to 2018 were selected in addition to reports of country studies. In all, 13 documents passed the inclusion criteria. E-waste recycling practices in Ghana were found to be mainly rudimentary. The major organic contaminants found in soils, air, sediments, food and body fluids of people exposed to e-waste recycling activities are PAHs, PCBs, Dioxin-like PCBs, PCDD/Fs, PBDD/Fs and PBDEs. The concentration of PCBs in the blood of e-waste workers and breast milk of nursing mothers at the recycling areas were respectively 0.082 µg/g (blood) and 3.64 ng/g lipid wt (breast milk). PAH was 3.94 µg/g creatinine in the urine of e-waste workers and 4,822 ng/g (median) in the soils at open burning areas. PCDD/F was 12.1 pg/g lipid base WHO₂₀₀₅-TEQ per year in the blood of e-waste workers and 988 pg TEQ/g in sediments of a shallow lagoon near the largest e-waste recycling site. Further studies are required to establish the levels of organic contaminants in air, water and foodstuffs at e-waste recycling sites and body burdens of children living or illegally working at e-waste recycling sites.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• E-waste
• Ghana
• organic compounds
• public health
• PAH

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to appreciate the valuable comments and inputs from the anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Eric Awere is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering, Cape Coast Technical University, Ghana. He is currently a doctoral student at the Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental & Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, Italy. At University of Bologna, he is in the research group of Transition Engineering whose activities are aimed at building a sustainable future from environmental, social and economic point of view, through conservation and valorization of natural resources, raw materials, water and energy. He conducts research in environmental engineering with particular focus on environmental sanitation; collection, treatment, reuse and disposal of wastewater and solid waste; recovery and recycling of raw materials.

Dr. Peter Appiah Obeng is a Senior Lecturer and currently the Head of the Department of Water and Sanitation at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering (Sanitary Engineering Option) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He lectures in courses including Environmental Sanitation Systems, Wastewater Collection and Water and Sanitation Institutional Development and Sector Management. He formerly lectured in the Civil Engineering Department of the Cape Coast Polytechnic, now Cape Coast Technical University, Ghana. His research interests are household access to sanitation facilities and potable water supply, low-cost sanitation technologies and waste management.

Prof. Alessandra Bonoli is an Associate professor at the Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental & Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, Italy. Her main research topics are in Environmental Engineering with regards to treatment, recovery and recycling of raw materials and solid waste; life cycle assessment and Circular Economy; dissemination of urban Green Technologies and unconventional building materials for climate change resilience in urban areas. She founded and coordinates the research group of Transition Engineering whose activities are aimed at building a sustainable future from environmental, social and economic point of view, through conservation and valorization of natural resources, raw materials, water and energy. Her precise research concerns the application of the above topics in cooperation activity for developing and emerging countries. She has numerous publications and collaborations with national and international Universities.

Panin Asirifua Obeng is a Lecturer in the Civil Engineering Department of the Cape Coast Technical University, where she lectures in courses including Environmental Quality Engineering and Environmental Impact Assessment. She is a doctoral student in the Civil Engineering Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. Her research interests include on-site sanitation systems and hygiene- and safety-oriented management of supply and sanitation systems in low-income settings.

ORCID

Eric Awere http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6084-7877

Peter Appiah Obeng http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0602-1083

Alessandra Bonoli http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0435-1396

Panin Asirifua Obeng http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8257-8417