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Synthetic Antioxidants are added to make them last longer. The health effects of these compounds and how quickly they migrate into the environment are not known. The researchers reported in the Environmental Science & Technology Letters that they had found a broad range of synthetic phenol and Sulfur Antioxidants in dust from e-waste recycling workshops.
A class of compounds called low-molecular weight synthetic phenolic antioxidants have been shown to be exposed to pollution. Some of the compounds were found to be toxic in lab experiments. The class of high-molecular weight synthetic phenols, also known as hindered phenols, has been introduced by manufacturers with improved performance and slower migration from products. Sulfur antioxidants are often added to rubber and plastic to be "helper" anti-aging. Most of the new compounds are unknown. Lixi Zeng and colleagues wanted to investigate the occurrence of emerging HPAs and SAs in dust from e-waste recycling centers, where large amounts of discarded electronics, such as laptop computers, cell phones, tablets, wires and cables are dismantled and processed.
In August 2020, the researchers collected 45 dust samples from three categories of e-waste recycling workshops in an industrial park in Yichun City, China. 18 emerging HPAs and 6 emerging SAs were screened using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The 24 compounds were all detected for the first time in the dust. The centers that dismantled wires and cables had higher levels of dust HPAs than the ones that dismantled general e-wastes. The researchers say more research is needed on the environmental behaviors, fates, toxicities and risks of emerging HPAs and SAs.
There are new insights into an environmental source, Environmental Science and Technology Letters.
Environmental Science & Technology Letters is a journal.
E-waste recycling emits emerging synthetic antioxidants on December 15, 2021.
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