“The effect of electronic waste (e- waste) on DNA and chromosomes in Idhna, Hebron District, Occupied Palestine”

Abstract

Electronic waste (e-waste) is solid waste which accumulates because of short life span of electronic equipments. The major problem of e-waste is recycling that use primitive techniques such as dumping in landfills or burning. In Palestine, a major site for work on e-waste is the village of Idhna in the Hebron Governorate. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of e-waste on human DNA damage and chromosome breaks. The test sample was 46 non-smoker individuals with direct exposure to e-waste with residency in Idhna town. 16 controls were used from Bethlehem and Al-Aizariya (Bethany). The DNA damaged was evaluated using comet assay, while chromosome aberration was tested by using conventional cytogenetic. The average of the total number of chromosomes with aberration was 3.77 while in controls the average was 0.75. Chromosome aberration frequency was statistically different between exposed and control samples for chromatid and chromosome breaks, formation of rings, and total CA. No significant difference was observed between exposed and controls for incidents of dicenterics and tetraploidy (P-value >0.05). Comet assay showed that there was significant different between exposed and control for DNA damage (P-value <0.05). There no significant difference noted by age. The results of this study demonstrate potentially grave health consequence for recycling e- waste in Idhna and we suggest some potential remedies. Key word: Electronic waste, DNA damaged , Chromosomal aberration, comet assay , Genotoxocity.