Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34727591›Full record

SynthesisReviews on environmental health2023

Electronic waste exposure and DNA damage: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Ibrahim Issah, John Arko-Mensah, Thomas P Agyekum, Duah Dwomoh, Julius N Fobil

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Reviews on environmental health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Health Risks Associated with Informal Electronic Waste Recycling in Africa: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Ibrahim IssahDepartment of Biological, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana.
John Arko-MensahDepartment of Biological, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana.
Thomas P AgyekumDepartment of Biological, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5498-5958
Duah DwomohDepartment of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana.
Julius N FobilDepartment of Biological, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana.
University of Ghana · GH

Funding

1/2-The West Africa-Michigan CHARTER II for GEOHealth-USAU2RTW010110 · FIC · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI FOBIL, JULIUS N., ROBINS, THOMAS G · 2015 to 2019
$1.3M
1/2-The West Africa-Michigan CHARTER II for GEOHealth-GhanaU01TW010103 · FIC · UNIVERSITY OF GHANA · PI FOBIL, JULIUS N., ROBINS, THOMAS G · 2015 to 2020
$763k
FIC NIH HHS U01 TW010103FIC NIH HHS U2R TW010110
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesInappropriate processing and disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) expose workers and surrounding populations to hazardous chemicals, including clastogens and aneugens. Recently, considerable literature has grown around e-waste recycling, associated chemical exposures and intermediate health outcomes, including DNA damage. Micronuclei (MN) frequency has been widely used as a biomarker to investigate DNA damage in human populations exposed to genotoxic agents. We conducted a systematic review of published studies to assess DNA damage in e-waste-exposed populations and performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between e-waste exposure and DNA damage.

methodsThis systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement checklist. Articles published in English from January 2000 through December 2020 investigating the associations between e-waste exposure and DNA damage were retrieved from the following three major databases: MEDLINE, ProQuest, and Scopus. Studies that reported the use of MN assay as a biomarker of DNA damage were included for meta-analysis. Studies that also reported other DNA damage biomarkers such as chromosomal aberrations, comet assay biomarkers, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), telomere length, apoptosis rate were reported using narrative synthesis.

resultsA total of 20 publications were included in this review, of which seven studies were within the occupational setting, and the remaining 13 studies were ecological studies. The review found six biomarkers of DNA damage (micronuclei, comets assay parameters (tail length, % tail DNA, tail moment, and olive tail moment), 8-OHdG, telomere length, apoptosis rate and chromosomal aberrations) which were assessed using seven different biological matrices (buccal cells, blood, umbilical cord blood, placenta, urine and semen). Most studies showed elevated levels of DNA damage biomarkers among e-waste exposed populations than in control populations. The most commonly used biomarkers were micronuclei frequency (n=9) in peripheral blood lymphocytes or buccal cells and 8-OHdG (n=7) in urine. The results of the meta-analysis showed that electronic waste recycling has contributed to an increased risk of DNA damage measured using MN frequency with a pooled estimate of the standardized mean difference (SMD) of 2.30 (95% CI: 1.36, 3.24, p<0.001) based on 865 participants.

conclusionsTaken together, evidence from this systematic review with meta-analysis suggest that occupational and non-occupational exposure to e-waste processing is associated with increased risk of DNA damage measured through MN assay and other types of DNA damage biomarkers. However, more studies from other developing countries in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia are needed to confirm and increase these results' generalizability.

Indexed as

Electronic WasteBiomarkersChromosome AberrationsDNA DamageHumansMouth MucosaBiomarkersbiomarkere-wastegenetic damagemicronucleus

Identifiers

PMID34727591
OpenAlexW3209774598

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.