Greepeace picture from Ghana showing "boys burning electronic cables and other electrical components in order to melt off the plastic and reclaim the copper wiring. This burning in small fires releases toxic chemicals into the environment."A review article I'm writing for a local research journal is seriously clipping my procrastinatory wings and also affecting my imaginary social life.
*Sigh* I'm sure the article will make for good toilet reading...either you can enjoy it on the toilet or if you run out of toilet paper...
Anyway, a preliminary review of the article came with a comment on whether I had thought about the impact of e-waste on asthma in African countries...
"Ermm no", I haven't....! I said
"E-Who?" is what I thought
I quietly went to my faithful friend (the Google search button) to find out what the @#$#@$@ 'e-waste' was anyway!!
To cut a long story short, 'e-waste' stands for electronic waste and is basically the dumping of old electronic devices in poor countries such as ours. Last year, I saw a BBC report flash before my eyes on the phenomenon in Ghana. It showed children scavenging around heaps of rubbish. Some of the piles were on fire. I was appalled at the time but now I'm just down-right disgusted.
Did you know that 75% of the old electronic shipped to Nigeria (for example) is probably irreparable junk? A small percentage (25%) is used while the rest ends up in land-fills and dumping areas where it is burnt. The same thing happens in Ghana.
Greenpeace International did some work on electronic waste in Ghana and their findings were published in an aptly entitled article: Poisoning the poor- Electronic Waste in Ghana. Now I'm not one to endorse some of the more radical and dramatic methods that Greenpeace uses to make statements but I think that this article raises some interesting issues very pertinent to our health here in the big GH.
Some facts from the Greenpeace article:
- E-waste is exported to Ghana often illegally
- Unprotected workers, many of whom are children, dismantle old computers and TVs with things such as stones in search of metals that can be sold.
- The remaining plastic, cables and casing is either burnt or simply dumped
- The remaining waste contains toxic metals including lead, mercury, cadmium,
- Samples collected by Greenpeace contained toxins known to promote cancer
- Some toxins collected are know to interfere with sexual reproductive development
Just imagine all the toxins we are inhaling or what is getting into our water supply. Anyway, in brief, this article reminded me of the furtive off-loading of still-unknown -substances in the port of Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire in 2006. These substances were linked to deaths and people being taken ill. Is Africa literally one big dumping site for the the industrial world's trash?
Also why is it that we completely take for granted our own health and well-being in Africa?
Okay, now back to the article. It is due today. I'm looking at an 11:53pm completion time. That still qualifies for a "By Monday" deadline....right?
An old obsolete computer currently decorating our office. Once we throw this out, it could probably end up in the same place as its imported counterparts; burning in a land-fill somewhere in Accra. Scary thought.
Also why is it that we completely take for granted our own health and well-being in Africa?
Okay, now back to the article. It is due today. I'm looking at an 11:53pm completion time. That still qualifies for a "By Monday" deadline....right?
An old obsolete computer currently decorating our office. Once we throw this out, it could probably end up in the same place as its imported counterparts; burning in a land-fill somewhere in Accra. Scary thought. 
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