Heavy metals in food, house dust, and water from an e-waste recycling area in South China and the potential risk to human health
Abstract
Concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ni) were measured in the foodstuffs, house dust, underground/drinking water, and soil from an electronic waste (e-waste) area in South China. Elevated concentrations of these potentially toxic metals were observed in the samples but not in drinking water. The health risks for metal exposure via food consumption, dust ingestion, and drinking water were evaluated for local residents. For the average residents in the e-waste area, the non-carcinogenic risks arise predominantly from rice (hazard index=3.3), vegetables (2.2), and house dust (1.9) for adults, while the risks for young children are dominated by house dust (15). Drinking water may provide a negligible contribution to risk. However, local residents who use groundwater as a water supply source are at high non-carcinogenic risk. The potential cancer risks from oral intake of Pb are 8×10(-5) and 3×10(-4) for average adults and children, and thus groundwater would have a great potential to induce cancer (5×10(-4) and 1×10(-3)) in a highly exposed population. The results also reveal that the risk from oral exposure is much higher than the risk from inhalation and dermal contact with house dust.
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Informal recycling activities, due to their inadequate safety measures, result in extensive pollution of the air, water, and soil.
“Informal recycling activities, due to their inadequate safety measures, result in extensive pollution of the air, water, and soil.”
From Unveiling Environmental Potential in Smartphone Repair Practices in Vientiane Capital, Laos (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
This pollution has a negative impact on local ecosystems and has the potential to contaminate the human food chain.
“This has a negative impact on local ecosystems and has the potential to contaminate the human food chain [2,37,39].”
From Unveiling Environmental Potential in Smartphone Repair Practices in Vientiane Capital, Laos (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
Cites
Lanphear, B. P., Hornung, R., Khoury, J., Yolton, K., Baghurst, P., Bellinger, D. C., Canfield, R. L., Dietrich, K. N., Bornschein, R., Greene, T., et al. (2005) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.7688 · Cited by 2,205 · see citing works
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Unveiling Environmental Potential in Smartphone Repair Practices in Vientiane Capital, Laos
Soudachanh, S., & Salhofer, S. (2025) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su17020711 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Zheng, J., Chen, K.-H., Yan, X., Chen, S.-J., Hu, G.-C., Peng, X.-W., Yuan, J.-G., Mai, B.-X., & Yang, Z.-Y.
- Affiliations
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Ke-hui
- Chen, She-Jun
- Yang, Zhong-Yi
- Venue
- Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-10
- Volume
- 96
- Pages
- 205-212
- ISSN
- 0147-6513 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2015416457
- Cited by
- 250
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 10.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation of China (41073078, 41230639)
- Science &Technique Development of Guangdong Province (2010B080703035)
- National Environmental Protection Public Welfare Industry Targeted Research (201309049)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Heavy metals in environment
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Keywords
- heavy metals, e-waste recycling, cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, nickel, food contamination, house dust, drinking water, groundwater, rice, vegetables, non-carcinogenic risk, cancer risk, children's exposure, human health risk assessment, South China
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, China, Dust, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Pollutants, Food Contamination, Humans, Oryza, Soil, Vegetables, Water, Water Supply, Risk Assessment, Metals, Heavy, Recycling, Electronic Waste
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