Improper disposal of waste electrical appliances can not only bring convenience to humans through various high-tech electronic products, but also generate a large amount of electronic waste. Recently, a survey conducted by our newspaper and Sohu Health Channel showed that 80% of households currently have old household appliances that need to be disposed of. Once electronic waste is mishandled, it may pose a threat to the environment and health. How to make these "retired veterans" safely "switch jobs" has become a confusing problem.

Among the 1511 people surveyed, 75.12% have dealt with old household appliances, and 23.04% "want to deal with them, but don't know how to deal with them." In terms of disposal methods, people's choices vary greatly. When asked about "how to dispose of small used household appliances (such as vacuum cleaners, microwaves, etc.)", 28.65% of people choose to sell them to vendors who collect used household appliances, 16.05% keep them at home because they don't know how to dispose of them, 16.02% give them away, 15.48% sell them themselves, 13.53% "throw them away with household waste", and 8.78% continue to use them after repair. The proportion of "waiting for manufacturers to recycle" is only 1.3%. In the disposal of large household appliances (such as televisions, washing machines, etc.), people choose to sell them to vendors (30.11%), leave them unused because they don't know how to dispose of them (21.31%), give them away (18.86%), find someone to repair and reuse them (14.03%), throw them with household waste (3.71%), and "waiting for manufacturers to recycle" (3.71%).

Regarding this, Dong Jinshi, Vice President of the Beijing Society of Environmental Sciences, stated that the methods used by the people to handle old household appliances are mostly unscientific. For example, a considerable number of people sell used household appliances to vendors. Some vendors recycle them and then dismantle them - selling useful metals for money, while some leftover materials are burned or thrown into ditches. However, if not properly disassembled, it can lead to the leakage of radioactive and heavy metal elements, seriously polluting the environment. Previously, an organization conducted a study on 20 young women who were breastfeeding near an electronic waste collection point and found that many people secreted high concentrations of carcinogens such as dioxins in their milk. However, in the survey, 55.56% of people were unaware of the hidden dangers of improper handling of old household appliances, 17.22% had some understanding of this, and 27.25% fully understood it.

When asked whether "after understanding these hazards, will we reconsider how to handle old household appliances?" 66.62% of people said they would consider it a bit, but may continue to handle it later, 31.39% said they would immediately follow the correct method, while 1.99% did not consider it at all. Dong Jinshi believes that the disadvantage of electronic waste recycling lies first and foremost in the lack of corresponding policies. Secondly, most people are not aware of the potential harm. Even if realized, it is difficult to find recyclable manufacturers and institutions. Therefore, Dong Jinshi calls for the government to introduce corresponding laws and regulations as soon as possible. It is understood that the upcoming "Circular Economy Law" will stipulate that enterprises have the responsibility to uniformly recycle old household appliances. 2、 When manufacturers produce, they not only need to consider how to sell, but also how to recycle and produce more recyclable, reusable, and less polluting household appliances. 3、 Ordinary people cannot throw away small appliances such as chargers and alarm clocks with household waste; Large and medium-sized old household appliances should not be left at home for too long, otherwise there are also risks such as radioactive metal leakage. However, small vendors should not be found to recycle them, but manufacturers and relatively legitimate institutions should be found

The invention and use of various electrical appliances have brought great convenience to human production and life. However, with the upgrading and elimination of waste, an increasing number of waste electrical appliances have been generated. If not handled properly, it can cause great pollution and damage to the environment, seriously endangering human health.

Polychlorinated biphenyls are highly toxic

Many electrical appliances have transformers, and the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the insulation oil of waste transformers is currently one of the most concerned harmful toxins internationally, which can cause cancer, teratogenicity, and other hazards. Long term exposure can cause toxicity to human reproduction, intellectual development, and endocrine systems.

During the accumulation and dismantling process of waste electrical appliances, polychlorinated biphenyls can be discharged into rivers with leaked insulation oil, sewage, and other waste materials. They can also be deposited into water sources and soil with floating dust, and can also enter animals and plants through water, soil, and air. The author recently completed a survey on the pollution and health effects of polychlorinated biphenyls in an area where the dismantling industry of waste electrical appliances such as old transformers is relatively concentrated. It was found that the ecological environment in this area has been severely polluted and damaged. In the river water of the area where waste electrical appliances are dismantled, polychlorinated biphenyls are several times higher than in the clean area, and nearby areas 100 kilometers away are also more than ten times higher than in the clean area. The content of polychlorinated biphenyls in local rice and vegetable fields has also significantly increased.

The investigation found that polychlorinated biphenyls were 40 times higher than the allowable limit in the body of crucian carp in the polluted area, and there were also varying multiples of increase in rice and vegetables. According to relevant standards, local freshwater fish and eggs are no longer edible, and those in neighboring areas should also be consumed in limited quantities. The survey also found that the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in cord blood, meconium, and breast milk of local newborns were significantly increased, and the intelligence and motor ability of locally born infants and young children were lower than those of the normal population.

Huge potential pollution hazards from waste electrical appliances

The above is just an example of environmental pollution caused by waste electrical appliances, but in fact, there are many types of pollution caused by waste electrical appliances. Scrapped electronic waste such as televisions, computers, mobile phones, refrigerators, etc. contains a large amount of toxic and harmful substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, brominated flame retardants, etc. The picture tube, cathode ray tube, solder on printed circuit boards, and plastic casing of televisions are all toxic substances. Producing a computer requires over 700 types of chemical materials, of which over 50% are harmful to the human body.

At present, most of the waste electrical appliances are destroyed and disposed of as ordinary garbage, or dismantled and recycled in small workshops without environmental protection technology and conditions. As a result, a large amount of harmful substances are directly discharged into the environment, causing serious pollution. There are also many old electrical appliances that have been taken away by people who go through the streets to collect them, and then transformed into underdeveloped rural areas. This not only fails to solve the pollution problem, but also creates many safety hazards.

Not eating agricultural and sideline products from polluted areas

The source of environmental pollution caused by waste electrical appliances is not only the indiscriminate disposal of users, but also the improper dismantling by some individual dismantling enterprises. Developed countries have established complete legal provisions for the disposal of waste electrical appliances and used advanced dismantling technology to achieve the goal of turning waste into treasure. However, these countries have eliminated too many old electrical appliances, far exceeding their processing capacity. Therefore, they export a large number of waste electrical appliances and transfer pollution to underdeveloped countries.

Relevant departments and some local governments in our country have also formulated and implemented some regulations and rules for the treatment of waste electrical appliances. However, there is still a process to effectively implement them. The ability to recycle old electrical appliances for pollution-free treatment is limited, and a large number of waste electrical appliances are still treated as general waste landfill.

To solve this problem, both the public and the government need to work together---

1. Both the public and the government should raise awareness, the state should formulate and implement corresponding laws and regulations, and the masses should actively participate and supervise.

2. Cut off the source of pollution and strictly prohibit the dismantling of waste electrical appliances at will. Both individuals and units should increase their awareness. Waste electrical appliances should not be discarded indiscriminately, nor should they be sold to waste collectors. They should try their best to have the legitimate dismantling department recycle them and bear some "small money" losses.

3. In contaminated areas, in order to prevent infants from continuing to be harmed by polychlorinated biphenyls after birth, it is necessary to establish PCR testing in breast milk, i.e. human blood, and determine whether to use breastfeeding under the guidance of experts.

4. The government should control and restrict the production and export of edible products in polluted areas, and residents should avoid consuming agricultural and sideline products produced in polluted areas

China has entered the peak period of electrical waste, with an estimated 5 million televisions, 4 million refrigerators, and 6 million washing machines scrapped annually. With the acceleration of the upgrading of electronic products such as computers, mobile phones, VCDs, DVDs, etc., the number of scrapped products will also sharply increase.

At present, the main treatment methods for waste household appliances in China are mostly hoarding or selling to "waste recycling vendors". These "electronic waste" have great safety hazards, serious environmental pollution, and even illegal counterfeiting and other drawbacks. If household appliances exceed their safe lifespan and the wiring inside the appliances ages, it is easy to cause leakage and electric shock accidents, leading to fires, which poses potential safety hazards to the population using old appliances. Electronic waste contains a large amount of toxic and harmful substances, such as explosive waste in television tubes, highly toxic mercury in television fluorescent screens, refrigerants and foaming agents in refrigerators that can damage the ozone layer, solder and plastic shells on printed circuit boards, and so on. More than 50% of the more than 700 chemical raw materials required for a computer are harmful to the human body. If disassembled improperly, it not only affects our living environment, but also endangers people's health.

At present, many countries have introduced relevant regulations on the recycling, treatment, and utilization of waste household appliances, and established specialized recycling institutions to handle waste household appliances or electronic products. In recent years, the National Development and Reform Commission has successively formulated policies and regulations such as the "Regulations on the Management of Recycling and Disposal of Waste Household Appliances and Electronic Products" and the "Measures for the Control of Pollution from Electronic Information Products", which stipulate that waste household appliances cannot be thrown away casually. Consumers should sell waste household appliances to household appliance dealers, after-sales service institutions, or recycling enterprises, and then these enterprises should hand them over to qualified processing enterprises. Reusable household appliances must be tested, repaired, and labeled as reusable items before they can be sold in the second-hand market. Waste household appliances that cannot be reused must be classified according to metal, plastic, circuit boards, electrical components, etc. in a dismantling site approved by the environmental protection department, and sent for professional treatment, melting, chemical decomposition, or incineration disposal.

The standardized recycling of "electronic waste" will gradually transform the electronic information industry into an environmentally friendly and resource saving green industry. What are the hazards to the body