E-waste emerging as threat to health
Electronic waste, better known as e-waste, might represent a serious health and environmental threat to Bangladesh as the country witnesses fast-growing use of electronic products.
Experts and environmentalists foresee that electronic wastes will appear as a serious threat due to increased use of electronic products and unplanned dumping of the e-wastes.
They define e-waste as electronic equipment, computers, televisions, cell-phones, products linked with power plug, batteries which have gone obsolete due to advanced technologies, changes in fashion, and style and status or have expired.
Many elements of e-waste contain poisonous substances, which cause severe diseases like cancer, birth defects, and neurological and respiratory disorders.
“We're relatively a poor country... But the use of electronic products is increasing gradually posing a threat to the environment and human health”, Dr Atiq Rahman, executive director of Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), told the agency.
He said electronic waste is yet to build up in Bangladesh, but “we need to think of it now”.
Replying to a question, he said, “We've urged the government to formulate a policy for e-waste management, but the government is yet to respond to it.”
Dr Rahman said Thailand and Japan are already facing e-waste hazards. “Many countries are handing over obsolete equipment to the poorer nations free of cost as part of their dumping strategy”, he added.
Bangladesh Computer Samity president Mustafa Jabbar said e-waste management policy is available in many countries of the world.
In a reply, he said they do not have exact data on how many computers are annually entering the domestic market, and how many of those are getting obsolete. He, however, said 4.5 lakh CPUs (central processing unit) were imported last year.
Kazi Ashraful Islam, vice-president of Bangladesh Computer Samity, said, “The situation [e-waste] is still under control since the import of old computers is banned”.
Talking to the agency, State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud said, “We've already started formulating a policy in this regard.” The policy will be soon in place, he added. “It'll take time a bit since it needs cabinet approval”.
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