Evidence - Based One Health Series

Introduction

The worldwide demand for electronic equipment has been boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic for education and online meetings among school-aged children, office workers, work from the home individual, and in the form of hospital equipment to household handy monitoring devices e.g. blood pressure monitoring, blood glucose monitoring, oximeters, thermometers, and the use of batteries to run the devices. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, globally a huge amount of electronic types of equipment are discarded which is going to increase in coming years due to accelerated demand for the adoption of Tele-services and Tele-activities. ^[1]

This increasing demand can give rise to the potential emerging risks of E-waste in respective settings causing risks to humans, animals, and the environment which is an interconnecting link of One Health as per the CDC. In the future how this E-waste will be managed poses a challenge to the implementation and adaptation of a zero-waste system.^[2] According to Forti et. al., (2020), the global E-waste generation in 2019 was 53.6 million metric tons which are predicted to increase up to 74 million metric tons by 2030.^[3]

E-waste is a key risk factor for humans, animals, and the environment (an interconnecting link between one health) poses risk due to the presence of more than 100 types of hazardous metals, where Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Arsenic (As), Selenium (Se), and Cadmium (Cd) are the major metal component of the electronic pieces of equipment ^{[2], [4]} other e-waste components e.g. phthalates, PVC, and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are also reported.^[5] The presence of E-waste contaminants has been documented in soil, plants, and underground water samples.^[6] Many countries have reported the hazardous impact on the ecosystem near E-waste recycling sites.^[6]–[8] Several studies have reported the link between heavy metal pollution and human health outcome.^[9]–[11] A review relation between E-waste recycling and human health risks have been reported and evidence shows the existence of heavy metals exposure in human biological samples (serum, whole blood, breast milk, urine, and hair).^[12] Health risks e.g. skin disorders, cancer, respiratory issues, nerve system damage, and orthopedic complications due to E-waste have been reported.^[14-18] In a study drinkable groundwater contamination of heavy metals near the recycling area due to E-waste components have been reported in higher concentration as compared to the WHO maximum allowable limit.^[13] Study towards effective E-waste management has been discussed.^[13] A study by Arya et. al., (2021) focused on new regulations and recycling facilities that have been proposed to implement to handle E-waste.^[2]

COVID-19 pandemic has given us chance to increase the Tele-services and Tele-activities, which will be a matter of concern in the future for the One Health agenda impacting humans, animals, and the environment. The collection of E-waste is a major problem that needs to be addressed by the general public, set-up of E-waste collection centres at local sites can be implemented and publicized. We have also discussed the few interventions required to handle the E-waste (Table 1). This needs to be addressed by the general public and remedial measures from local governing bodies to reduce the emerging lethal impact from E-wastes in-house, dumping as well as recycling sites should be monitored considering the One Health goal.

Table 1: Intervention required to handle the E-waste

· Use of medical devices batteries should be taken care of properly

· Any spillage from the battery can leak the inbuilt contaminants

· Batteries should be kept away from the children.

· Open dumping of e-waste should be prohibited and monitored by local authorities

· E-waste recycling systems should be strengthened

· Proper monitoring for workers and residents

· Awareness sessions for both residents and workers should be conducted

· Improper disposal should be checked on site

· A budget should be increased for proper waste management

· Need to strengthen the policy and develop the local guidelines

· Latest E-waste management methods should be incorporated

· Energy sources from E-waste should be harvested and recycled

· E-waste specific legislation should be implemented

· To develop generic E-waste management models

Declarations

Data availability: Not applicable

Code availability: Not applicable

Ethical approval Not applicable

Funding Not applicable

Consent to participate Not applicable

Consent to publish Not applicable

References:

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2. Dutta, D., et al., Electronic waste pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Environ Chem Lett, 2021: p. 1-4.

3. Forti, V., et al., The Global E-waste Monitor 2020. United Nations University (UNU), International Telecommunication Union (ITU) & International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Bonn/Geneva/Rotterdam, 2020.

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