E-waste recycling emits emerging synthetic antioxidants

Date:
December 15, 2021
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Manufacturers add synthetic antioxidants to plastics, rubbers
and other polymers to make them last longer. However, the health
effects of these compounds, and how readily they migrate into the
environment, are largely unknown. Now, researchers have detected
a broad range of emerging synthetic antioxidants, called hindered
phenol and sulfur antioxidants, in dust from electronic waste
(e-waste) recycling workshops, possibly posing risks for the
workers inside.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Manufacturers add synthetic antioxidants to plastics, rubbers and
other polymers to make them last longer. However, the health effects
of these compounds, and how readily they migrate into the environment,
are largely unknown. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental
Science & Technology Lettershave detected a broad range of emerging
synthetic antioxidants, called hindered phenol and sulfur antioxidants,
in dust from electronic waste (e- waste) recycling workshops, possibly
posing risks for the workers inside.


========================================================================== Previous studies revealed widespread environmental pollution and human
exposure to a class of compounds called low-molecular weight synthetic
phenolic antioxidants. In lab experiments, some of these compounds were
toxic to rodents or human cells. Recently, manufacturers introduced a
class of high-molecular weight synthetic phenolic antioxidants, also
known as hindered phenol antioxidants (HPAs), with improved performance
and slower migration from products. In addition to HPAs, compounds called sulfur antioxidants (SAs) are often added to rubber and plastic polymers
as "helper" antioxidants. The toxicological effects and environmental occurrence of most of these new compounds are unknown. Therefore, Lixi
Zeng and colleagues wanted to investigate the occurrence of emerging HPAs
and SAs in dust from e-waste recycling centers -- workshops where large
amounts of discarded electronics, such as laptop computers, cell phones, tablets, wires and cables are dismantled and processed.

In August 2020, the researchers collected 45 dust samples from three
categories of e-waste recycling workshops in an industrial park in
Yichun City, China: wire and cable dismantling, electronic plastic
processing, and general e-waste dismantling. Then, they used liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry to screen for 18 emerging HPAs
and 6 emerging SAs. All 24 compounds were detected in the dust: 22 for
the first time, and some at relatively high levels compared with other
e-waste pollutants. Although dust concentrations of SAs were similar for
the different categories of workshops, centers that dismantled wires
and cables and processed electronic plastics had significantly higher
levels of dust HPAs than those that dismantled general e-wastes. Given
the ubiquitous occurrence of emerging HPAs and SAs in e-waste dust,
further research is needed on their environmental behaviors, fates,
toxicities and risks, the researchers say.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science
Foundation of China, the Guangdong Special Support Program, the Guangdong (China) Innovative and Entrepreneurial Research Team Program, the Special
Fund Project for Science and Technology Innovation Strategy of Guangdong Province and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Chemical_Society. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Chunyou Zhu, Zibin Pan, Bibai Du, Bowen Liang, Yuqing He, Hui Chen,
Liangying Liu, Lixi Zeng. Massive Emissions of a Broad Range of
Emerging Hindered Phenol Antioxidants and Sulfur Antioxidants
from E-Waste Recycling in Urban Mining: New Insights into an
Environmental Source.

Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 2021; DOI: 10.1021/
acs.estlett.1c00866 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211215082043.htm

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