Influence of E‑Waste Dismantling and Its Regulations:
Temporal Trend, Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metals in Rice Grains,
and Its Potential Health Risk
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Abstract
Enhanced
regulations, centralized dismantling processes, and sophisticated
recycling technologies have been implemented in some e-waste dismantling
areas in China with regard to environmental and economic aspects since
2005. In this study, rice grain samples were collected from 2006 to
2010 in an e-waste dismantling area to investigate the temporal trends
and spatial distribution of As, Cd, Cu, and Pb. Geometric means of
As, Cd, Cu, and Pb in rice samples from the e-waste dismantling area
were 111, 217, 4676, and 237 ng g<sup>–1</sup>, respectively.
Levels of Pb showed a significant decreasing trend during the sampling
period, whereas the other three elements remained relatively constant
or even increased. Concentrations of Cd, Cu, and Pb in the e-waste
dismantling area were significantly higher than those in the non-e-waste
dismantling area (<i>p</i> < 0.05), which showed a close
connection between e-waste dismantling activities and elevated Pb,
Cu, and Cd contents. Risk assessment for human via rice consumption
indicated that over 60% of the hazard quotient of Cd exceeded 1 in
the e-waste dismantling area. Our study implied that stricter implementation
of regulatory measures might lead to positive effects in controlling
the release of some heavy metals to the environment. However, environmental
behaviors differed with geochemical characteristics of individual
elements. Further remediation actions to reduce heavy metal pollution
to the surrounding environment might still be needed