Publication
Title
Human dietary intake of organohalogen contaminants at e-waste recycling sites in Eastern China
Author
Abstract
This study reports concentrations and human dietary intake of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as well as selected "novel" brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) and organo-chlorine pesticides, in ten staple food categories. Samples were sourced from areas in Taizhou City, eastern China, where rudimentary recycling and disposal of e-waste is commonplace, as well as from nearby non-e-waste impacted control areas. In most instances, concentrations in foods from e-waste recycling areas exceeded those from control locations. Concentrations of 2-ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (EH-TBB) and bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrabromophthalate (BEH-TBP) in samples from e-waste sites were 3.09-62.2 ng/g and 0.81-16.3 ng/g lipid weight (1w), respectively; exceeding consistently those in foods acquired from control sites by an order of magnitude in many cases. In contrast, while concentrations of HBCD in some foods from e-waste impacted areas exceed those from control locations; concentrations in pork, shrimp, and duck liver are higher in control samples. This highlights the potential significance of non-e-waste sources of HBCD (e.g. building insulation foam) in our study areas. While concentrations of DDT in all foods examined except pork were higher in e-waste impacted samples than controls; our exposure estimates were well below the provisional tolerable daily intake of 0.01 mg/kg bw/day derived by the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues. Concentrations of PCBs resulted in exposures (650 and 2340 ng/kg bw/day for adults and children respectively) that exceed substantially the Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) for Sigma PCBs of 20 ng/kg bw/day derived by the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. Moreover, when expressed in terms of dioxin-like toxicity equivalency based on the four dioxin-like PCBs monitored in this study (DL-PCBs) (PCB-105, 118, 156, and 167); concentrations in e-waste impacted foods exceed limits set by the European Union in 6 of the 8 food groups studied and result in dietary exposures for children (10.2 pg TEQ/kg bw/day) that exceed the WHO tolerable daily intake of 1-4 pg TEQ/kg bw/day. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Environment international. - Oxford
Publication
Oxford : 2015
ISSN
0160-4120
DOI
10.1016/J.ENVINT.2014.10.020
Volume/pages
74 (2015) , p. 209-220
ISI
000346681700025
Pubmed ID
25454238
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
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Research group
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Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
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Creation 06.02.2015
Last edited 09.10.2023
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