Learning About E-Waste With The Wolcott Nitrobots E-Waste | Page 7

What E-Waste Does to Humans?

E-Waste does a lot of damage to our bodies, but it would not be a big problem if there was less of it. Last year UNU (United National University) reported there were more than 40 million tons of E-Waste worldwide. The E-Waste harms us ,but the way we dispose of it magnifies the problem. Electronics have many harmful chemicals in them. When we send them to places like Africa the people there cut open the electronics with hatchets and other tools. This exposes the chemicals to them and the environment.

Then the metals of value like gold and silver are taken out. By doing that, people of all ages are cutting the electronics open, exposing themselves to the chemicals. The workers, some under the age of 15, are getting paid less than $.25 an hour. The exposed chemicals then rise into the air and are carried by the wind to the rest of the world traveling over the ocean to other countries. This is ruining the drinking water of the world and harming animals. Some chemicals that we are exposed to are lead, mercury, arsenic,and chlorine.