The government has asked to attack Agbogbloshie because e-waste toxins contaminate food

General News of Monday, April 29, 2019

Source: Ghananewsagency.org

2019-04-29

The government has been urged to take immediate steps to prevent toxic pollutants resulting from the dismantling and burning of electrical wires and electronic waste from recovering copper in Agbogbloshie, as this puts the health of the population at risk.

Mr Muntaka Chasant, a social entrepreneur, said that a recent discovery by IPEN and the Basel Action Network indicates that dangerous chemicals such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), among 39 Other highly toxic products resulting from activities around Agbogbloshie, a suburb of Accra, could find their way into the city's food chain.

IPEN is a global network of public interest non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working together to reduce and eliminate the world's most harmful chemicals, while the Basel Action Network is a charitable NGO. fight against the export of technological waste. and other products from industrialized societies to developing countries.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr. Chasant, chairman and CEO of Airmask & Textiles Company Ltd, an anti-pollution masks company in Accra, said, "Many of us have always known that Agbogbloshie foods could be contaminated with toxins from electronic waste activities. "

"Agbogbloshie is the largest open-air food market in Accra. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, one third of street food vendors in Accra appeal to Agbogbloshie. Yet this same region is one of the most toxic environments in the world, "he said.

Mr Chasant said that another study by Dr. Jack Caravanos of the College of Global Public Health of the University of New York and other researchers, published in 2013, had also revealed rates. elevated lead in soil content samples taken from parts of the Agbogbloshie scrap yard.

He stated that the study revealed 18 125 parts per million (ppm) of lead in one of the samples taken, compared to the US Environmental Protection Agency's recommended 1200 ppm standard for non-hazardous soils. recreational.

The study also highlighted high concentrations of heavy metals and trace elements such as manganese, barium, selenium and zinc in the urine and blood serum samples. 87 scrap metal workers from Agbogbloshie, who volunteered to be studied.

Mr. Chasant, who has participated in an air pollution awareness campaign in low-income areas of Accra, including Agbogbloshie and Jamestown, said: "There are several problems in Agbogbloshie, but the most immediate is the combustion in the open air of copper wire parts, steel tires and electronic waste for the recovery of copper, radial steel and other precious metals. "

He explained that this released a badtail of highly toxic chemicals in the soil and in the air that clogged the lungs of residents and now enter the food chain.

"The level of particle pollution around Agbogbloshie is one of the worst we've seen in Accra. You can actually smell and taste the tainted air with Agbogbloshie approaching. Highly toxic smoke from activities in and around the Agbogbloshie wreck threatens the health of thousands of people living under the smoke, "said Mr. Chasant.

In his opinion, an electronic waste treatment facility that was not going to employ all or most of the young men in Sodom and Gomorrah and other nearby locations would make little difference to Agbogbloshie.

"Any attempt to solve problems in and around the Agbogbloshie case without considering the conditions in neighboring settlements can be a futile exercise," he said.

"The breakage of Agbogbloshie and the neighboring localities are linked. A 2008 study found that scrap metal work was the second largest job clbad in the colony. One interesting thing about our approach to problem solving is the way we tend to neglect research results. "

"Researchers spend many hours collecting data, and very often, we dismiss valuable findings because they conflict with our individual positions or because the study was not conducted by a local government agency."

Mr Chasant urged the Ghanaian authorities to immediately follow up on the conclusions of the IPEN Network and the Basel Action Network for a lasting solution to the problem of electronic waste.

"It is time for us to approach problem solving using the scientific method. This is our only chance to try to solve some of the most difficult problems that our society is facing today. "