Index IntroductionNegative Impacts of E-Waste on the EcosystemOn PeopleE-Waste RecyclingConclusionReferencesIntroductionOver several decades, the electronics industry has developed rapidly. The frequency with which people change electronic equipment is increasing, which leads to a significant increase in electronic and electrical waste (e-waste or WEEE). Most of the valuable resources can be extracted from e-waste through recycling. However, there is considerable public debate about the dangers of electronic waste. Some people believe that there is no significant relationship between children's IQ and e-waste, and formal e-waste recycling behaviors can effectively reduce land pollution caused by e-waste. In this essay, I will argue that e-waste is indeed hazardous, which means it has negative impacts on the ecosystem and people's health, furthermore, although formal recycling behavior reduces metal pollution in soil, e-waste continues There is a huge risk for people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Negative Impacts of E-Waste on the Ecosystem The first aspect to highlight is the ecosystem. There is evidence to show that heavy metals are produced during e-waste processing activities, which can contaminate soil. According to the research of Luo et al. (2010, p. 484), compared with agricultural soil, the pH of most e-waste reference soils is between 5.5 and 7.0, which exceeds the Chinese standard for agricultural soils and the Dutch standards due to heavy metal pollution. This is because harmful substances resulting from the processing of electronic waste exactly influence the pH value of the soil. As a result, land designated for e-waste becomes poisonous for agriculture. Furthermore, the recycling behavior of e-waste, especially the burning of e-waste, which releases the metallic elements, also leads to soil pollution. Due to the recycling behavior, the metal is enriched in e-waste combustion plants and the metal values, such as Pb, Cu and Cr, are higher than the Dutch standards which are reference values for environmental pollutants (Luo et al., 2010, page 484). Given the above evidence, it is legitimate to conclude that e-waste management not only damages arable land but also releases excessive values of metallic elements which may exceed the safety standard (Dutch standard); therefore, e-waste is dangerous and destructive to the soil. Furthermore, water or water systems can also be polluted by e-waste. The heavy metal from e-waste could acidify the water by changing the pH value of the water. It depends on the investigation by Wu et al. (2014, P. 221), compared with tape water, the sample water containing different levels of heavy metals from different e-waste sites was significantly acidified, the pH of the sample water is lower than the pH level of safety. At the same time, the research also confirms that in recent decades, due to e-waste recycling activity, acidic water has been poured into the stream and eventually flowed into the container, resulting in acidification of the pond water and heavy metal pollution. The heavy metal produced by electronic waste and the activities ofrecycling makes the water undrinkable. Besides that, recycling behaviors and heavy metals are the reason why groundwater and aquatic systems are polluted. Luo et al., (2010, P. 484 and 486) points out that pouring e-waste next to the pond is a normal behavior, metal from e-waste can accompany rain in aquatic systems. On the other hand, the extremely high value of Cu from the e-waste incineration site will increase the risk of groundwater pollution (Luo et al., 2010, P. 486). E-waste processing activities can make water acidic and thus contaminate the entire aquatic system. As a result, e-waste is hazardous to water or water resources. Another claim for e-waste is that facilities may be contaminated with e-waste. Burning e-waste releases smoke containing harmful substances into the open air, which can be absorbed primarily by plants, this is why shoots of plant samples have high accumulation of metals (Luo et al ., 2010, P. 486). Plants near e-waste disposal sites will be poisoned when they absorb heavy metals and toxic elements from the smoke, and this will obviously be harmful to plant growth. Likewise, vegetables can also be negatively affected by e-waste. As Wang, et al., (2012, p.190) found, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are concentrated in vegetables due to the burning of e-waste opening[8]. Apparently, they also realized that, due to PAHs and other harmful substances, vegetables near e-waste landfills are inedible. PAHs or other toxic elements present in e-waste can severely poison plants, especially nearby vegetables. If these vegetables or plants are eaten by mistake, this can pose risks to human health; therefore, e-waste is still dangerous. For people It is claimed that lead from e-waste is not associated with decreased IQ in children. Wang et al., (2012, P. 109-110) made a comparison between children from Lanxi, Luqiao and Chuanan and the IQ test results had no statistical significance, meaning there is no obvious relationship between Blood Lead Levels (BLL) and IQ. Furthermore, their experiment reaches the same conclusion even after determining other possible covariates. The children are from three reference areas which have different BLL levels, apparently, the IQ of the sample is almost stable at the same level around 110, which shows that although the children who have higher BLLs are from the e-waste area ( Luqiao), IQ levels are not directly affected by lead, so e-waste may not negatively affect children's IQ. This may be true to some extent; however, e-waste can damage children's hearing. There is no doubt that higher Pb levels increase the risk of deafness. Average Pb levels in the blood of children in areas exposed to e-waste are higher than those in other areas, which could cause greater risks of hearing loss. According to the comparison between different reference groups, it is stated that children living in the e-waste area have a higher prevalence of hearing loss in one ear or both ears because children near the e-waste area have generally higher levels of Pb in the blood which are often associated with hearing loss in children. The hearing threshold data of several children in the study by Liu, et.al, (2017, p.625) haveshown that the P value of 0.5, 1 and 2kHz is 0.05, less than 0.01 and less than 0.01, with a significant correlation stating that children exposed to potential toxicants have a lower ability to recognize low frequency sounds, especially 0.5, 1 and 2kHz. Although lead cannot lower children's IQ, sufficient evidence and data show that e-waste still poses a higher risk of damaging hearing or even losing hearing for children, which means that e-waste is dangerous for health. Another aspect of the impacts of children's waste on health is that e-waste will lead to a greater risk of suffering from cancer. Cr is a major health risk factor for cancer. In e-waste recycling behaviors, workers are exposed to different pollutants, and the harmful substance can enrich in the body, increasing the risk of cancer later in life. As the study by Sing, Thind, and John (2018, p. 432) shows, the amount of Cr on the skin of workers in e-waste landfills is 192.59 times higher than the reference value, and workers exposed to Cr have a rate of higher cancer risk than the normally acceptable value. The present study mentioned that PAHs can be released by burning electronic waste, which contains toxic elements that can also increase the risk of cancer. According to the soil survey results of e-waste collection sites, carcinogenic PAHs (PAHscarc) in soil occupied a huge proportion, and carcinogenic substances, such as BkF, are the main element of PAHs (Wang et al, 2017 ., p. 22175). E-waste exposes workers to enormous cancer risks. If smoke containing toxic elements, such as BkF, spreads into the air, residents in the vicinity of e-waste landfills may also have adverse effects, so e-waste is harmful and dangerous to people's health due to Cr and of PAHs.E -waste recyclingAn argument for considering e-waste harmless is the fact that formal recycling behavior can reduce the concentration of heavy metals in e-waste. Fujimori et al., (2012, P. 142) carried out a comparative analysis, in the soil of informal e-waste recycling sites, the values of Zn and Pb are obviously higher than in formal sites and there is also some pollution special from heavy metals informal recycling sites, which demonstrate that formal recycling behavior effectively reduces the concentration of metal pollution arising from e-waste. Formal e-waste recycling sites have an isolated working environment, allowing the soil not to enrich the heavy metal. Pollutants, such as Pb, Cd, and As, in formal soil are not concentrated, because formal e-waste recycling sites could isolate surface soil (Fujimori et al., 2012, P. 141). Formal e-waste recycling sites could have strict rules and regulations, making heavy metal pollution isolate the soil, which can effectively reduce the generation of metal pollution, so formal e-waste recycling can make so that e-waste deducts the harm, moreover, people have an efficient method to deal with e-waste, which can make e-waste non-hazardous. Although there are some claims that formal recycling behavior can lower the value of metal pollution in soil, the risk still exists in the dust of both formal and informal e-waste recycling sites. In Fujimori's statistics, el at, (2012,, 17(2), 134-141.
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