POLICYFORUM The Electronics Revolution: From E-Wonderland to E-Wasteland SCIENCE AND REGULATION

• Main Authors: Oladele A. Ogunseitan, Julie M. Schoenung, Jean-daniel M. Saphores, Andrew A. Shapiro
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: peregrine falcon
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.462.9477; http://www.lsi.usp.br/~acseabra/grad/2613_files/The Electronics Revolution- From E-Wonderland to E-Wasteland.pdf

Discarded electronics present serious threats to health and ecosystems, making e-waste regulations a policy priority. S ince the mid-1990s, electronic waste (e-waste) has been recognized as the fastest-growing component of the solid-waste stream, as small consumer elec-tronic products, such as cellular phones, have become ubiquitous in developed and developing countries ( 1). In the absence of adequate recycling policies, the small size, short useful life-span, and high costs of recy-cling these products mean they are routinely discarded without much concern for their adverse impacts on the environment and pub-lic health. These impacts occur throughout the product life cycle, from acquisition of raw materials ( 2) to manufacturing to disposal at the end of products ’ useful life. This creates considerable toxicity risks worldwide ( 3, 4). For example, the mean con-centration of lead in the blood of children liv-ing in Guiyu, China, a notorious destination for improper e-waste recycling ( 5), is 15.3 µg/ dl. There is no known safe level of exposure to lead; remedial action is recommended for chil-dren with levels above 10 µg/dl ( 6). Polybromi-nated diphenyl ethers used as fl ame-retardants in electronics have been detected in alarm-ing quantities (up to 4.1 ppm lipid weight) in California’s peregrine falcon eggs, raising the specter of species endangerment ( 7, 8). We recently estimated that each U.S. household has at least four small (≤4.5 kg) and between two and three large (>4.5 kg) e-waste items in storage ( 9); this represents 747 million e-waste items, weighing over 1.36 million metric tons. Moreover, most peo-ple (67%) in the United States are not aware of e-waste disposal restrictions or policies ( 9). The United States, one the largest gen-erators of e-waste in the world ( 4), does not have legally enforceable federal policies that require comprehensive recycling of e-waste or elimination of hazardous substances from electronic products. Without a coherent U.S. policy, informed by challenges faced by ...