AliprandoJoanna+(Electronic+Waste+Exportation)



Electronic Waste Exportation

Guiyu, China Since this young boy was born he has shared his hometown of Guiyu, China with millions of pounds of the United States’ unwanted electronic waste. His parents likely work for a waste recycler where they hand-dismantle electronics to recover copper and other precious materials through processes involving coal burning fires and acid bath washes. This young infant likely has 50% more lead in his body than children should, as seven of every ten children in his village do. High levels of lead, poly-chloronated, poly-bromiated and other mercuric acids contaminate the town’s air, soil and water creating “ash rivers “of toxic water supply. Researchers show a drastic increase in child leukemia cases since 1995 (when importation began) likely from water ash-water used for cooking and bathing. Many still consume the fish from contaminated ponds.

Toxicity Research in Guiyu, China -  __[]__ -

How We Got Here Rapid development of technology coupled with a product based culture transcends the United States as the world’s greatest electronic waste exporter. Each day America disposes 130,000 computers or 3 million tons of electronic waste per year. [|Epoch Times]

The responsible, disposing American however is fooled by corporate recyclers who claim they recycle domestically. Investigative forces have found that to be drastically untrue, reports from the Government Accountability Office have tracked the illegal exportation of CRT (cathode ray tubes) to developing  countries with unsafe facilities. [|Government Accountability Office] (long but a really great document) The need for Regulation!!! Numerous factors have led to this particular outcome , largely responsible  is the EPA’s relaxed, nonexistent enforcement of the CRT rule, established in January of 2007 defining CRTs as hazardous waste and their exportation illegal. [|World Watch Flawed EPA Regulation] CRTs are especially harmful due to their high levels of lead (4lbs in every computer monitor) yet desirable for copper recovery. The US legal system has failed to recognize any other electronic as hazardous yet printers, computers and cell phones can be just as toxic. [|EPA CRT Rule (EPA issued article)]

The European Union has ratified the Basel Convention which regulates exportation of all electronics and led to the development of high-tech, safe and efficient recycling facilities in both Europe and the developing world. A model the United States must follow if it is to consume and dispose of so much electronic waste. With the technological shift from analog to digital  transmission waste will only increase in years to come.  The immense black market exportation between the United States and poor nations has permitted the dangerous working and living conditions experienced by those in China, India and other developing nations. This allowance by the US has proven itself detrimental to those within a community and the environment surrounding them.

 [|60 Minutes Special] -12 minute video pretty much sums it all up. __[|ABC News Article]__

Bibliography- "Is America Exporting a Huge Environmental Problem?" //20/20// . ABC News, 6 Jan. 2006. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.  Leung, Anna, Zong  Wei Cal, and Ming Hung Wong. "Environmental contamination from electronic waste recycling at Guiyu <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">, southeast China." <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">//Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management// <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> 1.1 (1999): 21-33. <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">//Illumina// <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">. 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GAO, 2008 <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> Block, Ben. "Report Reveals Flawed U.S. E-Waste Policies." <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">//The// <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">//Worldwatch// <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> //Institute// <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> (2008). <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">[] <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> Delaney, Joan. 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