Human Health Risks and Environmental Impacts of Informal E-Waste Recycling

The fast-growing electronic waste (e-waste) volume has intensified the practice of informal recycling, especially in developing countries. The process of open burning, acid leaching, and manual dismantling are some of the procedures involved, which are very dangerous and have a lot of social and environmental impacts. This paper addresses the health hazards linked with toxic substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants, which could be absorbed by means of inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact. The paper further looks into the environmental effects of informal ewaste recycling such as the emissions of pollutants, the infiltration of pollutants in the soil and water, and the decimation of biodiversity and ecosystems. In addition, Case studies from places such as Guiyu in China and Agbogbloshie in Ghana are given to show how people have been affected in real life. The paper goes on to discuss the economic context, the regulatory challenges, and the solutions to these problems which have been proposed, stressing the necessity of tighter regulations, formal recycling programs, and EPR policies. The results highlight the importance of the immediate policy intervention and the industry action in tackling the health and environmental risks posed by the informal e-waste recycling. The matter presented in this article is the review of group of papers and is the summary of those papers which was submitted in the form of an assignment / as an alternate assessment tool / case study.