High-Resolution Environmentally Extended Input-Output Model to Assess the Greenhouse Gas Impact of Electronics in South Korea

South Korea is a global leader in electronics, but little is known about their climate change impact. Here, we estimate the direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Korean electronics by developing a new and high-resolution (∼380 sectors) environmentally extended input-output model, named KREEIO. We find that final demand for Korean electronics led to nearly 8% of national GHG emissions in 2017, mostly because of indirect emissions embodied in the electronics supply chain. Notably, the semiconductor and display sectors contributed 3.2% and 2.4% to national emissions, with capital investment accounting for 17% of the two sectors' total emissions or nearly 1% of national emissions. For other electronic products, scope 1, scope 2, and upstream scope 3 emissions on average accounted for 3%, 10%, and 87% of a sector's GHG intensity, respectively. Detailed contribution analysis suggests that reducing Korean electronics GHG emissions would benefit most from the transition to a low-carbon electricity grid, but mitigation efforts in many other sectors such as metals and chemicals are also important. Overall, our study underscores the significance of electronics GHG emissions in South Korea, especially those from semiconductors and displays, and the mitigation challenges these sectors face as demand continues to grow globally.

Health risk assessment of heavy metals in dust particles precipitated on the screen of computer monitors

Dust is an important factor to indoor pollution that contains suspended particles and heavy metals. Since today, use of computer has become an essential part of human life. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the amount of heavy metals deposited on CRTs and LCDs and their risk assessment. Ten dust samples for each type of monitor were collected from CRT and LCD screens in accordance with the standard OSHA ID-125 and ID-206, wet filter wipe method. Concentrations of Pb, Hg, Cd, Cr, and Cu were measured by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer. Exposure and risk assessment of these elements were estimated using USEPA's exposure parameters. The average concentrations of heavy metals in the dust on CRTs (0.82 mg/kg) were higher than LCD screens (0.69 mg/kg). Cr with 62.824% and Hg with 0.849% had the highest and lowest average concentration in both types of monitors. The non-carcinogenic risk and carcinogenicity indexes of CRT monitors were 0.0009, and 3.94 × 10^-11 and for LCD monitors were 0.0008 and 2.94 × 10^-11. In both monitors, ingestion is the main route to exposure with heavy metals. The average concentration of heavy metals in CRT dust. HI values for studied metals in dust of CRTs and LCDs were less than safe limit of 1. Because RI < 10^-4, cancer risk of studied elements in dust can be ignored.