Back to: SRI Online Training on E-Waste Management

 

 

Module 2.1:
Health threats origin

Workers can sometimes be exposed to hazardous substances when carrying out tasks to ensure WEEE management. Let’s see how and why this happens.

Dumping of e-waste in Ghana.
Dumping of e-waste in Ghana.

Exposure to hazardous substances

There are 5 ways that workers are exposed to hazardous substances. These are sometimes overlooked, but understanding “how” is the key to prevention.

The 5 ways are:

Through Water

Through Air

Through Food

Through Soil

Through Dusts

Poor handling of WEEE can have disastrous consequences on human health. Toxic chemicals which are released in the environment can end up in the human body through different means. 

Water, Food & Soil:

  • If e-waste is not properly treated in a controlled area, hazardous substances and chemicals are washed by rain and finish in the ground and water (sea, lake, river, pond, …).
  • Food crops and water wells nearby are highly polluted and threaten people’s lives.
Open dumping of e-waste in Nigeria, Morocco and China.
Open burning of e-waste in Ghana.

Air & Dusts:

  • Burning e-waste in open environment with no proper equipment and no proper ventilation system, will spread toxic gases in the air and degrade the air quality.
  • Once in the air and in form of dust, the toxic chemicals will enter the lungs and threaten people’s good health.

Why is this a problem?

  • Research has shown correlation between exposure to hazardous e-waste substances and level of toxic chemicals and metals in human bodies.
  • The timing of the exposure to those substances is also an impacting factor.
  • Exposures are especially high where informal practices have been ongoing for at least a decade.
  • Near informal sites, toxic pollutants can be found in plants, animals and human bodies.
  • Food and water close to e-waste informal sites present high concentration of lead, cadmium, copper and other toxic substances.

What are the consequences?

  • Cancers.
  • Decreased lung function.
  • Increased incidence of diabetes, hypertension and cardio-vascular diseases.
  • Abnormal thyroid and other development problems.