Electronic waste recycling increasing more health hazards in india

The Electronic waste recycling and disposal operations found in developing countries are extremely polluting and likely to be very human health Hazards.
According to (Habib Beary, 2005), computers, refrigerators, televisions and mobiles contain more than 1,000 different toxic materials. Chemicals such as beryllium, found in computer motherboards, and cadmium in chip resistors and semiconductors are poisonous and can lead to cancer. Chromium in floppy disks, lead in batteries and computer monitors and mercury in alkaline batteries and fluorescent lamps also pose severe health risks.
The patients suffering from problems such as bleeding from the throat and breathlessness, lung ailments including asthma, bronchitis and chronic lung infections, relating these to e-waste recycling methods used, burning of wires and handling of green circuit boards such as the task of recovering copper from printed circuit boards (PCBs). The author also shows the concern to the use of a brew of nitric acid, a toxic substance during the recycling process that releases copper as well as cancer-causing lead and mercury.

plastics used to house computer equipment and cover wire cables to prevent flammability often contain poly-brominates flame retardants, a class of dangerous chemicals. Studies have shown that ingesting these substances may increase the risk of cancer, liver damage, and immune system dysfunction. The chemicals contained in e-waste are a cocktail of dangerous pollutants that kill both the environment and humans slowly. The recycling units are mostly in the residential areas, where children play with trash. This can lead to further health hazards.

Modern Environmental Health Hazards in Africa

Traditional environmental health hazards such as lack of access to potable water, indoor air pollution from biomass burning and lack of sanitation and hygiene have long plagued African nations. However, with growth in urbanization and industrialization, these countries are now facing more modern environmental health hazards such as heavy metals like lead and mercury, pesticides and air toxics. Sources of these hazards include consumer goods, household paint, leaded gasoline (which is still sold in North Africa), pesticides, industrial pollution, domestic and hazardous waste, polluted water and artisanal gold mining and processing. With increased urbanization and industrialization of many African cities, air pollution in particular has become an issue of public health concern.

Current management of modern environmental health hazards in Africa is inadequate, and it is necessary to put in place various safeguards for environmental health, such as stable institutions, adequate infrastructure, monitoring capacity and regulatory frameworks. Human exposure to such hazards has the potential to significantly affect the levels of illness and disease in Africa. For those populations with compounding factors that impair resilience to toxicologic challenges, such as malnutrition, the disease burden may be higher.