TY - JOUR
T1 - Climatic and soil-mineralogical controls on the mobility of trace metal contamination released by informal electronic waste (e-waste) processing
AU - Friedlander, Lonia R.
AU - Weisbrod, Noam
AU - Garb, Yaakov J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge post-doctoral fellowhsip funding from the Fulbright United States-Israel Educational Foundation and the Swiss Institute of Dryland Energy and Environmental Research at the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev that supported the first-author during this research. We also gratefully acknowledge Amos Russak for advice, assistance, and training in ICP-OES data collection and analysis and Rina Miaskowsky for initial training in soil acid digestion. We are especially grateful to Subhi Jaber for help with sample collection, transportation, and assistance locating the site.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - Informal e-waste processing is a growing global problem. Local climate and mineralogical factors strongly control the chemical lability and dispersal of trace metals from informal e-waste processing. Previous work on e-waste contamination primarily focused on well-known sites in similar climates. Our exploratory analysis of a long-term (since 2008) e-waste incineration site in East Jerusalem demonstrated the ways in which local factors combined to uniquely control trace metal contaminant mobility. Our results suggest that the combination of e-waste processing methods, climate, and mineralogy at this site generated a geopolymer-like material combining ash from e-waste incineration and mountain rendzina soil. This material strongly sorbs trace metal contaminants. We measured the concentrations of: Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn at 29 locations around and within the burn site. Samples collected less than 10 m from the edge of the incineration area had trace metal concentrations below the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. E.P.A.) screening levels for residential soil. Sequential extraction showed that ∼50–80% of the total mobilized Pb was released from the residual solid fraction, suggesting strong sorption or incorporation into soil components. Large differences in the measured average specific surface areas (SSA) of uncontaminated (26.18 m2/g) and contaminated (4.48 m2/g) samples, despite comparable mineralogy by XRD, suggested the production of a geopolymer-like material. This was supported by close similarities between the SSA values of contaminated samples and those measured for geopolymer materials synthesized in the lab using kaolinite clay and fly ash (e.g., 4.9 m2/g).
AB - Informal e-waste processing is a growing global problem. Local climate and mineralogical factors strongly control the chemical lability and dispersal of trace metals from informal e-waste processing. Previous work on e-waste contamination primarily focused on well-known sites in similar climates. Our exploratory analysis of a long-term (since 2008) e-waste incineration site in East Jerusalem demonstrated the ways in which local factors combined to uniquely control trace metal contaminant mobility. Our results suggest that the combination of e-waste processing methods, climate, and mineralogy at this site generated a geopolymer-like material combining ash from e-waste incineration and mountain rendzina soil. This material strongly sorbs trace metal contaminants. We measured the concentrations of: Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn at 29 locations around and within the burn site. Samples collected less than 10 m from the edge of the incineration area had trace metal concentrations below the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. E.P.A.) screening levels for residential soil. Sequential extraction showed that ∼50–80% of the total mobilized Pb was released from the residual solid fraction, suggesting strong sorption or incorporation into soil components. Large differences in the measured average specific surface areas (SSA) of uncontaminated (26.18 m2/g) and contaminated (4.48 m2/g) samples, despite comparable mineralogy by XRD, suggested the production of a geopolymer-like material. This was supported by close similarities between the SSA values of contaminated samples and those measured for geopolymer materials synthesized in the lab using kaolinite clay and fly ash (e.g., 4.9 m2/g).
KW - E-waste
KW - Geopolymer
KW - Mobility
KW - Trace metal
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066450193&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.05.093
DO - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.05.093
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85066450193
VL - 232
SP - 130
EP - 139
JO - Chemosphere
JF - Chemosphere
SN - 0045-6535
ER -