11 October 2022 Tuesday
18 million children may be at risk!
Illegal processing of unused electronic devices (e-waste) puts the health of children, teenagers and expectant mothers around the world at risk. Asst. Prof. Dr. Emre Gündogdu from Istanbul Gelisim University stated that the health of children and pregnant women are at risk due to e-waste exposure.
E-waste, which creates a new business area thanks to the precious metals and mines it contains, causes both human and environmental health problems due to inappropriate disposal methods. As the World Electronic Waste Day approaches, Asst. Prof. Dr. Emre Gündogdu from the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Gelisim University evaluated the situations that arise in the transformation activities of digital waste. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report on toxic threats from digital waste, there is a direct link between e-waste recycling activities and health problems.
ILLEGAL PROCESSING OF UNUSED ELECTRONIC DEVICES IS DANGEROUS
E-waste, which covers almost every household or work item with a power cable, battery, electrical components or circuit, is crucial in the recycling process. Asst. Prof. Dr. Emre Gündogdu emphasized the increasing threat to children's health of the World Health Organization's (WHO) "Digital Waste" research and added the following:
‘’According to the report titled “Children and Digital Waste: E-waste Exposure and Child Health” published by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the toxic threats from digital waste, the health of children, young people and expectant mothers around the world is at risk due to illegally using electronic devices. Informal methods of extracting precious metals from these wastes in the recycling process of e-waste especially negatively affect children, young people and pregnant women who are in critical stages of their physical and neurological development. At the same time, approximately 18 million children and adolescents and 12.9 million women working in landfills are likely to be at risk from health problems associated with e-waste recycling.”
Stating that this report is also a call to action to prevent children from being exposed to risks arising from harmful e-waste activities, Asst. Prof. Dr. Emre Gündogdu underlined that governments should take binding initiatives to ensure the safety of those operating in the process of eco-friendly recycling of e-waste.
