Environmental contamination due to uncontrolled e-waste recycling is an emerging global issue. Antimony (Sb) is a toxic element used in semiconductor components and flame retardants for circuit board within electronic equipment. When e-waste is recycled, Sb is released and contaminates the surrounding environment; however, few studies have characterized the extent of this problem. In this study, we investigated Sb and arsenic (As) distributions in indoor dust from 13 e-waste recycling villages in Guiyu, Guangdong Province, southeastern China. Results revealed significantly elevated concentrations of Sb (6.1-232 mg/kg) in dust within all villages, which were 3.9-147 times higher than those from the non e-waste sites, indicating e-waste recycling was an important source of Sb pollution. On the contrary. As concentrations (5.4-17.7 mg/kg) in e-waste dusts were similar to reference values from the control sites. Therefore, dusts emitted from e-waste recycling may be characterized by high Sb/As ratios, which may help identify the contamination due to the e-waste recycling activities. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Publication name	SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT　Volume: 409 　Issue: 23 　Pages: 5126-5128　 Published: NOV 1 2011
Author(s)	Bi, Xiangyang; Li, Zhonggen; Zhuang, Xiaochun; Han, Zhixuan; Yang, Wenlin
Corresponding author	BI Xiangyang  bixy@cug.edu.cn  China Univ Geosci, Fac Earth Sci, Wuhan 430074, Peoples R China
Author(s) from IGCAS	LI Zhonggen

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