Ewaste - the Horrors of the Age of Technology

The Horrors of The Age of Technology

Jesenia L. Padilla

California State University, East Bay

        In today’s day and age, it seems that we are constantly marveled by the wonders of the always improving technology of electronic gadgets. While a majority of the population rush out to get the latest forms of technology, very few are aware of what is actually happening to the old devices they recycle. Watching the 60 Minute segment, The Electronic Wasteland, I was astonished to see the horrific effects the city of, Guiyu, faces due to the world’s lack of regulation on the issue. One man explained that while we think our electronic gadgets our smooth and clean they actually contain, “Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Chromium, and polyvinyl chlorides; materials that are known to have toxicological effects that range from brain damage to kidney disease, to mutations, (and) cancers”. According to the video, “E-waste is the fastest growing component of the municipal waste stream world wide”. It is recorded that we throw out 130,000 computer each day and over a hundred million cell phones each year here in the United States. Realizing that this is a growing issue and knowing that these chemicals can have harmful effects on an individuals health, the United States has put regulations into place to prevent the incorrect disposal of these items and pollution of these chemicals. Unfortunately, these regulations are sometimes ignored and these gadgets are sent over seas where these items are incorrectly stripped of their precious metals. When these items are sent over seas they are usually sent to countries with low income labor. These countries usually do not have the safety regulations or the proper equipment needed to dispose of these materials safely. Guiyu, a city shown to us in the video shows a great example of one of these wasteland cities. Here, we saw images of individuals stripping and breaking the electronic equipment with their hands and feet and using dangerous methods to extract the precious metals from these electronic devices. Scientists have found that Guiyu has “the highest levels of cancer causing dioxins in the world, they found that pregnancies are six times more likely to end in miscarriage, and that seven out of ten kids have too much lead in their blood”. After watching this clip, I feel that the United States and Hong Kong should take action and impose stricter regulations on the issue. For example, I feel that international officials should search each container when it is shipped and when it arrives to make sure that these events do not occur. I also feel that this corrupt operation within the city needs to be shut down while a clean up project begins in hopes of one day restoring the city of Guiyu.