IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i9p2996-d350545.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exposure to Heavy Metals in Electronic Waste Recycling in Thailand

Author

Listed:
  • Chalermkhwan Kuntawee

    (Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University 420/6 Ratchawithi Rd., Ratchathewee, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
    Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Health Office, 257 Phromthep Rd., Mueang District, Ubon Ratchathani 34000, Thailand)

  • Kraichat Tantrakarnapa

    (Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University 420/6 Ratchawithi Rd., Ratchathewee, Bangkok 10400, Thailand)

  • Yanin Limpanont

    (Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University 420/6 Ratchawithi Rd., Ratchathewee, Bangkok 10400, Thailand)

  • Saranath Lawpoolsri

    (Department of Tropical Hygiene, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University 420/6 Ratchawithi Rd., Ratchathewee, Bangkok 10400, Thailand)

  • Athit Phetrak

    (Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University 420/6 Ratchawithi Rd., Ratchathewee, Bangkok 10400, Thailand)

  • Rachaneekorn Mingkhwan

    (Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University 420/6 Ratchawithi Rd., Ratchathewee, Bangkok 10400, Thailand)

  • Suwalee Worakhunpiset

    (Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University 420/6 Ratchawithi Rd., Ratchathewee, Bangkok 10400, Thailand)

Abstract

Electronic waste recycling can release heavy metals into the environment and cause adverse health effects. We assessed the association between exposure to heavy metals from electronic waste recycling and the prevalence of asthma in a nested case-control study of 51 subject pairs with and without asthma. House dust, airborne dust, blood, and urine were collected from residents of two neighboring sites in Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand. Multiple electronic waste-handling activities are conducted in the first site, while the second site is mostly agricultural. Concentrations of chromium, mercury, nickel, and lead in house dust and airborne dust were higher in the electronic waste-handling site ( p < 0.05), but levels of exposure were similar in subjects with and without asthma. Although we did not find an association between exposure to these metals and the prevalence of asthma, control measures should be implemented to reduce health risks from long-term exposure to heavy metals.

Suggested Citation

  • Chalermkhwan Kuntawee & Kraichat Tantrakarnapa & Yanin Limpanont & Saranath Lawpoolsri & Athit Phetrak & Rachaneekorn Mingkhwan & Suwalee Worakhunpiset, 2020. "Exposure to Heavy Metals in Electronic Waste Recycling in Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:9:p:2996-:d:350545
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/9/2996/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/9/2996/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gwen Aubrac & Ashley Bastiansz & Niladri Basu, 2022. "Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Mercury Exposure among Populations and Environments in Contact with Electronic Waste," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-19, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:9:p:2996-:d:350545. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.