Novel indicators to better monitor the collection and recovery of (critical) raw materials in WEEE: Focus on screens.

Currently, in the European Union (EU), e-waste chain performance is assessed by technical indicators that aim to ensure system compliance with collection and recovery targets set by the WEEE Directive. This study proposes indicators to improve WEEE flow monitoring beyond the current overall weight-based approach, including complementary flows and treatment performance. A case study focused on the screen category in France is presented. In 2017, the collection rate of cathode-ray tube screens (CRT) was 68%, while for flat panel display (FPD) generated only 14% was collected. CRT screens have less precious and critical materials than FDP. Thus, elements like cobalt and gold highly concentrated in FPD, have a collection rate two to four times lower than elements such as copper (37%) which represents a high proportion in CRTs. Recycling is the main treatment in France. Nevertheless, the recycling rate per element varies significantly due to the low collection, and also the lack of technology and/or secondary raw materials market. The elements with higher recycling rates are base metals such as copper (28%), followed by precious metals like silver (23%), and gold (13%). Except for palladium, the recycling rate of the critical raw materials targeted in the study ranged from 6% (cobalt) to 0% (e.g. neodymium and indium). The results stress the need for indicators to support the development of WEEE chain from waste management to secondary (critical) raw materials suppliers.

Life cycle cost and environmental assessment for resource-oriented toilet systems.

The rich content of nutrients in human waste provides an outlook for turning it from pollutants to potential resources. The pilot-scale resource-oriented toilet with forward osmosis technology was demonstrated to have advantages to recover clean water, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, biogas, and heat from urine and feces. For the possibility of further full-scale implementation in different scenarios, six resource-oriented toilet systems and one conventional toilet system were designed in this study. The methodology of cost-benefit analysis and life cycle assessment were applied to analyze the life cycle economic feasibility and environmental sustainability of these systems. As results indicated, resource-oriented toilets with forward osmosis technology concentrating urine proved to have both economic and environmental benefit. The economic net present value results of new resource-oriented toilets were much better than conventional toilet. The energy consumption in resource-oriented toilets contributes a lot to the environmental impacts while resource recovery such as the fertilizer production and fresh water harvest in resource-oriented toilet systems offsets a lot. Taking both life cycle economic feasibility and environmental sustainability into consideration, the partial resource-oriented toilet (only recovering nutrients from urine) is the best choice, and the totally independent resource-oriented toilet could be applied to replace conventional toilets in areas without any external facilities such as sewer and water supply system etc.

Method validation of multi-element panel in whole blood by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Background: Analytical methods to measure trace and toxic elements are essential to evaluate exposure and nutritional status. A ten-element panel was developed and validated for clinical testing in whole blood. Retrospective data analysis was conducted on patient samples performed at ARUP Laboratories. Methods: A method was developed and validated to quantify ten elements in whole blood by ICP-MS. Fifty microliters of sample were extracted with 950 µL of diluent containing 1 % ammonium hydroxide, 0.1 % Triton X-100, 1.75 % EDTA along with spiked internal standards. Four calibrators were used for each element and prepared in goat blood to match the patient specimen matrix. Samples were analyzed with an Agilent 7700 ICP-MS with a Cetac MVX 7100 µL Workstation autosampler. Results: The assay was linear for all elements with inter- and intra-assay imprecision less than or equal to 11% CV at the low end of the analytical measurement range (AMR) and less than or equal to 4% CV at the upper end of the AMR for all elements. Accuracy was checked with a minimum of 40 repeat patient samples, proficiency testing samples, and matrix-matched spikes. The linear slopes for the ten elements ranged from 0.94 to 1.03 with intercepts below the AMR and R2 ranging from 0.97 to 1.00. Conclusions: The multi-element panel was developed to analyze ten elements in whole blood to unify the sample preparation and increase batch run efficiency. The improved analytical method utilized matrix-matched calibrators for accurate quantification to meet regulatory requirements. The assay was validated according to guidelines for CLIA-certified clinical laboratories and was suitable for clinical testing to assess nutritional status and toxic exposure.

Lead and other elements in house dust of Japanese residences--source of lead and health risks due to metal exposure.

The levels of 25 elements in house dust collected from 100 general Japanese residences were measured. Factor analysis was applied on the multi-element data to explore source of Pb (median concentration 49.1 mg/kg) in house dust. Six factors were extracted and Pb was found to have great loading on the fifth factor with Sb and Sn, suggesting solder (Sn), and plastic and metals (Sb) may be the sources of Pb in the house dust of Japanese residences. No significant loading was found on soil-related factors indicating non-significant contribution of Pb in track-in soil. Seven heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Mo, Pb, Sb, Sn, and Zn) were found in house dust at >10 times more condensed than crustal abundance. Health risk of these elements to children via the ingestion of house dust was estimated based on the comparison with tolerable daily intake and found to be non-significant for most of the elements.