It is noteworthy that none of these laws and regulations emphasise
remediation of contaminated soil and water in the vicinity of e-waste
recycling sites; therefore, the pollutants remaining in abandoned ewaste
recycling sites can still pose hidden danger to the surrounding
environments (Lopez et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2014). Among various
toxic substances in the e-waste, heavy metals are of special concern
because of their toxicity, mobility and non-biodegradability. Apart
from soil, water resources are very subject to heavy metal contamination.
For example, heavy metals in soil can be washed away by rainfall
and end up in the nearby ponds; heavy metals can contaminate groundwater
via leaching especially under acidic conditions (Zheng et al.,
2013; Pradhan and Kumar, 2014; Wu et al., 2014). Since the local
villagers usually rely on pond water and groundwater for irrigation
and drinking, respectively, the potential ecological risk of heavy metals