What are the Negative Effects of E-waste on the Environment?

Electronic waste also known as e-waste, it is any electronic product, or a product covering electronic components, that has reached the end of its practical life cycle. Unbeknown to many customers, electronics essentially cover toxic substances - therefore they essential be handled with care when no longer required. If a product is obsolete, customers can donate it to somebody who might still find it valued. Many retailers also offer trade-in incentives for people looking to upgrade electronics that need the surrender of an older model; the retailers are able to reuse the older models. However, if a product is totally unusable or broken, instead of just being thrown in the garbage, it must be thrown away by a certified e-waste recycler, or taken to a designated drop-off at a government building, school or organization as e-waste can hypothetically cause harm to humans, animals and the global environment if disposed of inappropriately.

The costs of unsuitable e-waste disposal in landfills or other non-dumping sites pose grave threats to present public health and can pollute ecosystems for generations to come. Here are E-waste awareness training which provides knowledge and awareness of E-waste, with its types and ways of management, which will be useful for safeguarding our health and environment. This training will help to gain knowledge and understanding of E-waste, its classification, sources, and effects on humans and the environment as well as E-waste related all significant international conventions/ laws/directives. When electronics are inappropriately disposed and end up in landfills, toxic chemicals are released, affecting the earth’s air, soil, water and ultimately human health.

The Negative Effects on Air: Pollution in the air happens when e-waste is casually disposed by dismantlement, shredding or melting the materials, releasing dust particles or toxins, such as dioxins, into the environment that reason air pollution and harm respiratory health. E-waste of slight value is often burned, but burning also serves a way to get valued metal from electronics, like copper. Chronic illnesses and cancers are at a higher risk to happen when burning e-waste because it also releases fine particles, which can travel thousands of miles, producing numerous negative health risks to humans and animals. Higher value materials, such as gold and silver, are often removed from highly combined electronics by using acids, disordering, and other chemicals, which also release fumes in areas where recycling is not regulated correctly. The harmful effects on air from informal e-waste recycling are most dangerous for those who handle this waste, but the pollution can spread thousands of miles away from recycling sites.

The air pollution produced by e-waste impacts some animal species more than others, which may be risking these species and the biodiversity of certain regions that are frequently polluted. Over time, air pollution can hurt water quality, soil and plant species, producing irreparable damage in ecosystems.

The Negative Effects on Soil: When inappropriate disposal of e-waste in consistent landfills or in places where it is dumped illegally, both heavy metals and blaze retardants can seep straight from the e-waste into the soil, causing contamination of crops that may be planted nearby or in the area in the future. When the soil is contaminated by heavy metals, the crops become weak to absorbing these toxins, which can cause many diseases and doesn’t permit the farmland to be as productive as probable.

When big particles are released from burning, shredding or dismantling e-waste, they instantly re-deposit to the ground and contaminate the soil as well, due to their size and weight. The amount of soil contaminated depends on a range of factors with temperature, soil type, pH levels and soil composition. These pollutants can remain in the soil for a long period of time and can be damaging to microorganisms in the soil and plants. Eventually, animals and wildlife relying on nature for survival will end up consuming affected plants, causing internal health problems.

The Negative Effects on Water: After soil contamination, heavy metals from e-waste, such as mercury, lead and barium, then leak through the earth even further to reach groundwater. When these heavy metals reach groundwater, they ultimately make their way into ponds, streams, rivers and lakes. Through these pathways, acidification and toxification are bent in the water, which is unsafe for animals, plants and communities even if they are far away from a recycling place. Clean drinking water becomes problematic to find.

Acidification can kill marine and freshwater organisms, distract biodiversity and damage ecosystems. If acidification is present in water supplies, it can damage ecosystems to the point where recovery is questionable, if not impossible.

The Negative Effects on Humans: As mentioned, electronic waste contains toxic components that are dangerous to human health, such as mercury, lead, cadmium, polybrominated flame retardants, barium and lithium. The negative health effects of these toxins on humans contain brain, heart, liver, kidney and skeletal system damage. It can also significantly affect the nervous and reproductive systems of the human body, leading to sickness and birth faults. Inappropriate disposal of e-waste is incredibly risky to the global environment, which is why it is so significant to spread awareness on this rising problem and the threatening aftermath. To avoid these toxic things of e-waste, it is critical to appropriately e-cycle, so that items can be recycled, refurbished, resold, or reused. The increasing stream of e-waste will only deteriorate if not educated on the accurate measures of disposal.

Ian Colin has published many articles regarding ISO Certification. Ian has rich experience as a online publisher and prepared various Certification documents as per ISO guideline since large amount of years in his professional career.