title: Health risk assessment of migrant workers' exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls in air and dust in an e-waste recycling area in China: Indication for a new wealth gap in environmental rights.
abstract: Migrant workers who work and live in polluted environment are a special vulnerable group in the accelerating pace of urbanization and industrialization in China. In the electronic waste (e-waste) recycling area, for example, migrant workers' exposure to pollutants, such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), is the result of an informal e-waste recycling process. A village in an electronic waste recycling area where migrant workers gather was surveyed. The migrant workers' daily routines were simulated according to the three-space transition: work place-on the road-home. Indoor air and dust in the migrant workers' houses and workplaces and the ambient air on the roads were sampled. The PCB levels of the air and dust in the places corresponding to the migrant workers are higher than those for local residents. The migrant workers have health risks from PCBs that are 3.8 times greater than those of local residents. This is not only caused by the exposure at work but also by their activity patterns and the environmental conditions of their dwellings. These results revealed the reason for the health risk difference between the migrant workers and local residents, and it also indicated that lifestyle and economic status are important factors that are often ignored compared to occupational exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Yalin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Jinxing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Key Laboratory for Water Pollution Control and Environmental Safety of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Luqiao Environmental Protection Bureau, Taizhou 318050, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Luqiao Environmental Protection Bureau, Taizhou 318050, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Meteorology, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Zaffar
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Hashmi
authors.affiliation: Luqiao Environmental Protection Bureau, Taizhou 318050, China.
authors.forename: Wenbo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Xiaomei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Yindong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Key Laboratory for Water Pollution Control and Environmental Safety of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Ronglang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Key Laboratory for Water Pollution Control and Environmental Safety of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310058, China. Electronic address: ysxzt@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chaofeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D059029:Electronic Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D059027:Recycling; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014171:Transients and Migrants
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Dust; Environmental rights; Health risk; Indoor air; Migrant workers; Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)