Assessing leaching potential of Electronic Waste

Abstract:

Electronic waste or E-Waste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Informal processing of E-waste in developing countries can lead to adverse human health effects and environmental pollution. The present study deals to assess the leaching ability of metals (namely, Copper, Manganese, Nickel, Lead, Antimony and Zn) from a mobile circuit board in different pH condition of water. It was observed that different metals showed varying leaching potential at various pH. This is of huge interest in making a predictive model of ground water contamination arising from improper disposal of e-wastes.

Keyword: E-waste, Leaching, Metal

Introduction:

Electronic industry is the world’s largest, innovative and fastest growing industry during the last century which radically changed the people's lifestyle. Although this development has helped the human race, but emerged a new environmental problem called electronic waste (e-waste). The sources of the majority of these can be traced to major developed countries, although there is an increasing contribution from rapidly developing countries like China and India. E-waste is increasing drastically, with a growth rate of 20-25% annually. Many factors contribute to this surge in e-waste. These include the short lifecycle of equipment, low recycling, and the continuous upgrading of electronic equipment as affluent societies demand the latest technology. E-waste has been described as one of most difficult classes of waste to manage due to a constant change in its features and specificities. The inappropriate handling of e-waste is unsafe for both human health and the environment, discharging heavy metals and persistent organics.

Since 2010, the volume of e-waste generated globally has been steadily rising. By 2019, approximately 53.6 million metric tons was produced. This was an increase of 44.4 million metric tons in just five years. Of this, just 17.4 percent was documented to be collected and properly recycled.

According to a 2020 report by the Central Pollution Control Board, India generated 1,014,961 tonnes of e-waste in FY 2019-2020 – up 32% from FY 2018-2019. Of this, the report found that only 3.6% and 10% were actually collected in the country in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Effects of e-waste on the Environment

Emissions of toxic fumes and gases causing air pollution.
Toxic chemicals from e-waste enter the “soil-crop-food pathway”.
These are biodegradable and cause soil and ground water pollution.
E-waste dumping yards and nearby places are polluted and cause health hazards.

Effect on Human Body

Hazardous Substances	Sources of E-waste		Effect on Environment and health
Heavy metals & other metals
Antimony (Sb)	Fire retardant, plastics	It is a toxic compound and causing dermatitis, affecting skin cells and respiratory tract and affects the immune mechanism.
Arsenic (As)	Small quantities in the form of gallium arsenide within light emitting diodes	Acutely poisonous and injurious to health on a long-term exposure.
Barium (Ba)	Getters in CRT	May develop explosive gases (Hydrogen) if wetted. Short term exposure causes muscles weakness; damage to heart, liver and spleen.
Beryllium (Be)	Power supply boxes which contain silicon controlled rectifiers and X-ray lenses	Harmful if inhaled the fumes and dust. Causes lung cancer, beryllium disease or beryllicosis, warts.
Cadmium (Cd)	Rechargeable Ni Cd-batteries, fluorescent layer (CRT screens), printer inks and toners, photocopying-machines (printer drums)	Acute poisonous and causes irreversible effects on human health. Accumulates in kidney and liver. Teratogenic.
Chromium (Cr)	Data tapes, floppy-disks	Acutely poisonous and damage the DNA. It causes Asthmatic bronchitis / allergic reactions.
Copper (Cu)	Cabling	liver damage, abdominal pain, cramps, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting
Lead (Pb)	CRT screens, batteries, printed wiring boards	Damage the central and peripheral nervous systems, circulatory systems and kidney damage. Affects brain development in children. It is a carcinogen and causing lung cancer.
Lithium (Li)	Li-batteries	May develop explosive gases (hydrogen) if wetted.
Mercury (Hg)	Fluorescent lamps that provide backlighting in LCDs, in some alkaline batteries and mercury wetted switches	Acutely poisonous and damage to the brain. Respiratory and skin disorders due to bioaccumulation in fishes.
Nickel (Ni)	Rechargeable Ni Cd-batteries or Ni MH-batteries, electron gun in CRT	May cause allergic reactions.
Zinc sulphide	Interior of CRT screens, mixed with rare earth metals	Toxic when inhaled
Halogenated Compounds
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)	Condensers, Transformers	Persistence and bioaccumulation . Effects on the immune, reproductive, nervous system, endocrines systems and other health effects. Causes tumors and cancer.
Brominated Flame retardants (BFR)	Fire retardants for plastics (thermoplastic components, cable insulation)	May cause neurobehavioral effects and endocrine disruption

Materials & Methods:

Mobile circuit board was taken out from old, unusable mobile phones.

All the chemicals and reagents were purchased from Merck, India and were of GR Grade.

Sample preparation: Circuit board was cut into pieces and soaked in different pH conditioned water (pH 5-6, pH 8-9 and pH 7.0). This water was tested for leaching ability of those heavy toxic metals using ICP-OES following standard method.

Results:

In neutral water Medium: In neutral water medium, i.e. pH 7.0, it was observed that Ni showed profound leachability peaking at day 14. The results were incorporated in Figure 1.
In alkaline water Medium: In alkaline water medium, i.e. pH 8.0-9.0, it was observed that Zn followed by Cu showed profound leachability peaking at day 7. The results were incorporated in Figure 2.
In acidic water Medium: In neutral water medium, i.e. pH 5.0-6.0, it was observed that Pb, Zn and Cu showed profound leachability peaking at day 7, whereas Cu continued to peak up to 21 days. The results were incorporated in Figure 3.

Figure 1: Leaching ability of Metals in Neutral Water medium

Figure 2: Leaching ability of Metals in Alkaline Water medium

Figure 3: Leaching ability of Metals in Acid Water medium

Conclusion

In neutral medium Ni was found to be leached maximum on 14th day. Rest of the metals were absent in initial as well as after 21 days of leaching experiment.
In acidic medium Pb was found to be leached maximum on 7th day, Zn & Ni on 21st day, Cu on 7th day.
In alkaline medium Zn & Cu was found to be leached maximum on 7th day. Rest of the metals were absent in initial as well as after 21 days of leaching experiment.

Contributed by : Koustav Shil, Amartya Gupta

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Assessing leaching potential of Electronic Waste

Testimonial

Mitra S.K. have added value to our business process by effective inspection, strict quality control and timely response. It is a pleasant experience to work with “Team Mitra S.K.”. We hope the same service level will continue in the future too....

Sirsendu Mukherjee

Mitra SK Inspection Gulf LLC has been appointed by us and the services provided by them has been up to the mark and as per our expectations....

Ajay Mathur

Amar Singh Gohil

The Inspection services provided by Mitra S. K. Inspection Gulf has been prompt and accurate and has been in the line with our expectations....

Naser Bustami

We would like to express our high appreciation of the business association our company had with Mitra S. K. as a testing and inspection house for their quality of service, good documentation and reporting during the job ....

R. Jeyakumar

Tulus Situmeang

Their job was excellent and showed Mitra S.K. differential from others....

Geraldo Pimenta

Konstantin Gertsen

We’ve been pleased with the improvement we have seen in CIQ results, and Mitra S.K’s reports have certainly helped us to resolve any disputes with our customers in a more timely manner….....

Brian Mcdonald

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