Practise Proper Disposal Of Electronic Waste

Research Scientist at the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS) at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Johann Antoine, is urging Jamaicans to practise proper disposal of electronic (e)-waste.

Speaking in an interview with JIS News, he noted that discarded electrical or electronic devices such as old cell phones, monitors, televisions, and tablets, have become a growing source of lead poisoning.

“All e-waste has some component of lead and there has been research from as far back as 2004 indicating that communities that are exposed to a high level of e-waste also have high levels of lead exposure,” he noted.

“You have children; they are playing in the community, they are not washing their hands, they are introducing it to their mouths, their noses, and they are inhaling it,” he pointed out.

“Now they are exposed [to] all of the possible deleterious effects of lead and these are the neurotoxic effects, the lowering of intelligence quotient (IQ), antisocial behaviour and violence,” the Research Scientist pointed out.

Mr. Antoine noted that when exposure gets to an acute level, it can cause seizures and even death.