E-Waste: Deadly disaster in the making

Sunday Observer : Sunday, 3 April 2011 by Shanika SRIYANANDA  | Waste Management World

Among his toys, the old mobile phone is Arun's favourite. He does not much like the other fancy mobile phone added to his heap of toys recently. Both these phones, used by his mum and dad, have no life now and were given to Arun to play. The little boy of four years used them as walkie-talkies when he played hide-and-seek with his friend Ranul.

Inquisitive about the parts which formed the phone, Arun started dismantling the two phones one day. First he threw out the batteries to the garden as they were not so attractive. Then he was able to get the circuit of a phone out by hammering on it with his toy mammoty. As the phone was in pieces, the maid who looks after Arun had to throw them away to avoid being blamed for her 'negligence'. She threw away the pieces to the adjoining barren land, where the neighbour was planning to build a house soon.

Not much aware or concerned about the 'danger' which they may have faced due to dismantling the phone and throwing away the dead battery, the duo was more upset and worried about losing the two phones, which held sentimental value, as one was the first ever phone of Arun's father and the second a gift from him to his wife on their first wedding anniversary.

Arun's house also stored other 'ancient' and broken electronic devices such as their first washing-machine, refrigerator and rice cooker in their congested garage.

Strictly warned by the parents not to destroy their 'e-waste with sentimental value', the little boy still plays with one of the broken mobile phones, while the 'remnants' including the two 'lifeless' batteries and circuits are adding deadly chemicals - lead, mercury, nickel, cadmium, lithium and electrolytes - to the soil.

"Parents should not allow children to play with 'end of life' electronic devices as there are chances for them to get exposed to the dangerous chemicals in them. When people are exposed to chemicals from e-waste it could damage the brain and nervous system, affect the kidneys and liver, and cause birth defects in children to be born", Director, Environmental Health and Occupational Health of the Ministry of Health Dr. Ananda Jayalal said.

He said the batteries of old mobile phones pose a great threat to Sri Lanka as nearly 10 million people use mobile phones now. "What will happen to these batteries, which have a lifespan of only five years? They need to be discarded in an eco-friendly manner to save human lives as well as the environment", he said.

Dr. Jayalal said there are people who collect end of life electronic items such as computers, rice cookers, batteries and DVD and CD players to collect parts to be sold, but the remaining parts are destroyed in open areas or thrown into waterways.

"When burnt, heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury in the e-waste are released into the air and deposited as ashes. Mercury released into the atmosphere can bio-accumulate in the food chain, particularly in fish - the major route of exposure for the public. If the products contain PVC, highly toxic dioxins and furans are also released. Brominates and flame retardants generate brominate dioxins and furans when e-waste is burned", he said.

The number of discarded, obsolete or broken electrical or electronic devices, which are fondly called 'e-waste', is a deadly disaster in the making with a growing number of electronic devices designed to make human lives easier, entering the market on a daily basis.

According to current estimates, e-waste is growing at almost three times the rate of municipal waste globally and the present e-waste market was forecast to reach 53 million tonnes by 2010 from 42 million tonnes in 2008 as the electronics and information technology industry became the world's largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry.

At the sixth meeting of the Conference to the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal, e-waste was considered one of the main streams of waste to be managed properly to prevent damage to human lives and the environment.

E-waste, which contains over 38 chemicals which are harmful to human health, is of concern largely due to the toxicity and carcinogenicity of some of the substances if processed improperly.

Chairman, Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Charitha Herath said e-waste management, which was not given much consideration for some years, was now given prime attention on the CEA's waste management policy as it would cause much damage to the country in future, if left un-noticed.

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