title: Potential resource and toxicity impacts from metals in waste electronic devices.
abstract: As a result of the continuous release of new electronic devices, existing electronic devices are quickly made obsolete and rapidly become electronic waste (e-waste). Because e-waste contains a variety of metals, information about those metals with the potential for substantial environmental impact should be provided to manufacturers, recyclers, and disposers to proactively reduce this impact. This study assesses the resource and toxicity (i.e., cancer, noncancer, and ecotoxicity) potentials of various heavy metals commonly found in e-waste from laptop computers, liquid-crystal display (LCD) monitors, LCD TVs, plasma TVs, color cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs, and cell phones and then evaluates such potentials using life cycle impact-based methods. Resource potentials derive primarily from Cu, Sb, Ag, and Pb. Toxicity potentials derive primarily from Pb, Ni, and Hg for cancer toxicity; from Pb, Hg, Zn, and As for noncancer toxicity; and from Cu, Pb, Hg, and Zn for ecotoxicity. Therefore, managing these heavy metals should be a high priority in the design, recycling, and disposal stages of electronic devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Seung H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea.
authors.forename: Dae Sung
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Seong-Rin
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D059029:Electronic Waste; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000633:toxicity*; D059027:Recycling
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy
keywords: Design for Environment; E-waste; Heavy metal; Resource potential; Toxicity potential