Electronic waste (e-waste)

Important facts

• E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world (1).
• In 2022, an estimated 62 million tons of e-waste were produced worldwide. Only 22.3% was officially collected and recycled (2).
• Lead is a common substance released into the environment when e-waste is recycled, stored, or disposed of through informal activities, including open burning. (3).
• Informal e-waste recycling activities can cause several adverse health effects. Children and pregnant women are particularly at risk.
• The ILO and WHO estimate that millions of women and child workers working in the informal recycling sector worldwide could be at risk of exposure to hazardous e-waste (4.5).

overview

Every year millions of electrical and electronic devices are discarded because products break or become obsolete and are thrown away. These discarded devices are considered e-waste and can pose a health and environmental hazard if not disposed of and recycled properly.

Common items in e-waste streams include computers, cell phones, large household appliances, and medical devices. Millions of tons of e-waste are recycled through improper processes, stored in homes and warehouses, dumped and exported illegally. When e-waste is recycled using improper methods, up to 1,000 different chemical substances can be released into the environment, including known neurotoxic substances such as lead (3). Pregnant women and children are particularly at risk due to their routes of exposure and their level of development. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 16.5 million children worked in the industrial sector, which includes waste processing, in 2020 (4).

Scope of the problem

Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world (1). Less than a quarter of the e-waste produced worldwide in 2022 is known to have been officially recycled. However, e-waste streams contain valuable and limited resources that can be reused if recycled properly. E-waste has therefore become an important source of income for individuals and some communities. People living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly children, face the greatest risks from e-waste due to a lack of appropriate regulations and enforcement, recycling infrastructure and training. Despite international regulations to control the movement of e-waste from one country to another, cross-border shipments in LMICs often continue illegally. Electronic waste is considered hazardous waste as it contains toxic materials and can produce toxic chemicals if recycled improperly. Many of these toxic substances are known or suspected to harm human health, and several of them are among the top 10 chemicals of public health concern, including dioxins, lead and mercury. Poor recycling of e-waste poses a threat to public health and safety.

Exposure to e-waste

Electrical and electronic devices contain many different toxic substances. Users are unlikely to come into contact with these substances while the items are functional. When they become waste, these toxins can be released into the environment if the equipment is handled with environmentally harmful practices and activities. Many unacceptable practices have been observed at e-waste dumps, including:

• Clean up
• Deposition on land or in water
• Landfill together with normal waste
• Open burning or heating
• Acid baths or acid leaching
• Removing and shredding plastic coatings
• manual disassembly of equipment.

These activities are considered hazardous to the environment and health because they release toxic pollutants and contaminate the air, soil, dust and water at recycling sites and in neighboring communities. Open burning and heating are considered the most dangerous activities due to the toxic fumes they produce. Once released into the environment, these toxic pollutants can travel significant distances from the site of pollution, exposing people in distant areas to hazardous substances.

Children are most at risk

Epidemiological research has demonstrated several adverse health consequences associated with informal and improper e-waste recycling activities.

Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the effects of hazardous pollutants from informal e-waste recycling activities. Children are often involved in collecting and cleaning up trash, burning discarded e-waste, and manually dismantling items into individual parts. In some countries, children may serve as a source of cheap labor and their small hands give them an advantage in dismantling the smallest objects. These activities directly expose children to injuries and high levels of hazardous substances. Working as a garbage collector is dangerous work and is considered one of the worst forms of child labor by the ILO. In 2020, the ILO estimated that up to 16.5 million children worldwide worked in the industrial sector, which includes waste processing (4). It is unknown how many child laborers participate in informal e-waste recycling.

Exposure to e-waste may be associated with the following health effects during pregnancy and in infants and children:

• unfavorable outcomes in newbornsincluding increased rates of stillbirth and preterm birth;
• neurological development, learning and behavioral outcomesparticularly related to lead released through informal e-waste recycling activities;
• decreased lung and respiratory function and increased asthma incidencewhich may be related to the high levels of contaminated air pollution that characterize many e-waste recycling sites.

Due to their particular vulnerability, children and pregnant women are at high risk from hazardous substances released through informal e-waste recycling activities. Children are exposed to different stresses less interested in e-waste recycling activities than adults. Recycling e-waste releases toxic chemicals that can cross the placenta and contaminate breast milk, such as mercury. Due to their rapidly developing bodies, including their respiratory, immune and central nervous systems, fetuses and young children are very sensitive to many pollutants released from e-waste recycling. E-waste contains several known neurotoxic substances, including lead and mercury, which can disrupt central nervous system development during pregnancy, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Some harmful toxins from e-waste can also affect the structural development and function of the lungs. Changes in children's developmental systems can cause irreparable damage and affect them for the rest of their lives.

Prevention and management

National and international measures are essential to protect communities from improper e-waste recycling activities. The following measures can be taken:

• adopting and enforcing high-level international agreements;
• Develop and implement national e-waste disposal laws that protect public health;
• Inclusion of health protection measures in national legislation;
• monitoring e-waste sites and surrounding communities;
• Implement and monitor measures that improve informal e-waste recycling activities, protect public health and ensure important sources of community revenue;
• Educate health workers at all levels about child health issues related to e-waste;
• Elimination of child labor.

International agreements

The Basel Convention regulates the cross-border shipment of hazardous waste and its disposal. It is a comprehensive environmental agreement aimed at addressing issues related to hazardous waste, including e-waste, and its management. In 2019, the ban change to the Basel Convention came into force. It prohibits the shipment of hazardous waste, including electronic waste, from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, European Commission countries and Liechtenstein to other states party to the Convention. The Basel Convention conducts programs and workshops to develop and provide guidelines for environmentally sound disposal of e-waste. It also provides states with guidelines on distinguishing between waste and non-waste and on cross-border shipments of e-waste. There are also regional conventions, including the Bamako Convention and the Waigani Convention. Both regional conventions emerged in response to the Basel Convention and aim to further restrict the movement of hazardous waste, including e-waste, in African and South Pacific countries, respectively.

WHO response

The World Health Organization (WHO) Initiative on E-waste and Child Health contributes to a number of international e-waste programs and pilot projects in countries in Latin America and Africa. These projects develop frameworks for protecting children's health from exposure to e-waste that can be adapted and replicated in other countries and settings. The initiative aims to:

• Increase access to evidence, knowledge and awareness of the health impacts of e-waste
• Improving the health sector's capacity to manage and prevent risks
• Facilitate monitoring and assessment of exposure to e-waste and measures to protect health.

In 2021, WHO released its first global report on e-waste and child health, which called for more effective and binding measures to protect children from the growing threat. WHO has developed training tools for the health sector, including a training package for health providers, including a dedicated training module on e-waste and child health. In addition, WHO is contributing to multi-agency capacity training tools, including a MOOC, a joint course with PAHO and the UNICEF-WHO Introduction to Children's Environmental Health.