Science Time!

So, Ulmer confronted me with what had been my great laziness so far. Because I'm interested mostly in the geopolitical and philosophical ramifications something like E-waste holds, I've found myself less curious about investigating the hard science behind the issue. So, here, I'd like to look at a few ways in which the problem actually, y'know, is a problem.

So, first, let's look at chemical and biological damage. This is kind of the first and foremost concern (we'll look at some of the geopolitical specifics in a moment).

So, the most drastic and attention-grabbing of the E-waste victims have been the children in an area of China called Guiyu where the hazardous disposal of plastics in computers and other parts (for example, workers there burn piles of wire to melt off the protective cover and to grab out the copper from inside) has resulted in something like 80% of their children having "dangerous levels of lead in their blood." The problem comes when these heavy metals are burnt down and put into the air that's then breathed in by workers involved in improper disposal (this article paints a pretty bleak, if somewhat sensationalized, picture of the situation). One finds the same problem when a CRT tube is smashed, which often sends Beryllium fumes into the air, which, of course, are carinogens and can cause, y'know, cancer.

So what can lead do? If inhaled, it can be diffused in one's blood or tissues where it can move, at the level of an enzyme, and, because of its similar appearance to other biologically-necessary metals, can change the shape of the development of blood and neurons, which obviously causes problems, y'know, with the other parts of the body that depend on these things. That's why some people suffering from lead poisoning report increased aggressivity or other psychological or social maladies.

So, we also have to deal with land contamination, most prominently in the figure of dioxins soaking into soil as a result of the burning of these unstable products. These can result in liver and developmental issues if not, again, carinogetic damage. If an area of land is polluted, problems might not arise from direct contact, but with enough exposure (and especially if animals become infected), things can get ugly pretty fast.

So, finally, I guess we'll have to reckon with the geopolitical aspects of the accident. The story I reference above traces the dumped computers in Ghana to England's NHS (they left the stickers right on the things). I'll have to take some more time to dig into these cases, but it seems as though its general logic is similar to the accidents Ulmer's dealing with in which a group decides to dump products because it's cheaper than disposing of it properly. Here though, we have an extended issue in that we have a group of countries basically scuttling these hazardous materials off to developing nations in the hopes that their indigenous populations will take apart the machinery for the precious metals rather than reporting the damage to anyone else.

Ugh, that felt like a pretty half-assed attempt at science. Will have to get back to this another time...