By Hauwa Ali
Ignorance of the dangers of electronic waste (ewaste) to human health is one main reason why people don’t care about proper disposal of ewaste. There’s also a disturbing fact that Nigeria is among the dumping grounds for all sorts of used electronic devices in form of second-hand products and no ewaste management, collection regulatory program is functional in the country. This means that a significant amount of ewaste is really have no where to go other than the general waste dumpsite.
In Nigeria, many electronic markets and informal dumpsites are located near or in residential areas, which allows children and women to be exposed to ICT emissions.
The e-waste is set ablaze, releasing toxic fumes into the air and contaminating underground drinking water.
The World Health Organisation estimates that Nigeria generates a whooping N64.2 billion worth of ewastes and ranks second in Africa after Egypt.
Ewaste contains elements like lead, zinc, mercury, beryllium, etc, which can cause danger to life when the toxic materials in these heavy metals are released into the soil, air, or underground water. The result of which is a devastating disease outbreak in crops, livestock, and humans.
Unfortunately, Nigeria does not practise any proper waste disposal management of ICT products. So, people that live around dump sites or areas where the waste leads to pollution, may be at a greater risk of having cancer and varied serious health issues.
A research report by Telecommunication and Technology Sustainability Working Group (TTSWG),has listed some of the most dangerous elements ground in ewastes and how they can affect human directly when inhaled or eaten from food sources.
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• Lead (Pb) – Lead is found in cathode ray tube in television sets/computer monitors, acid batteries, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cable.
Lead (pb) accumulated in water bodies and soil organisms leading to poisoning. Pb can enter the human body through food intake, water and air and can be found in fruits, vegetables, messy grain and seafood. Lead can cause severe unwanted effects like disrupting the biosynthesis heamoglobin and anaemia, kidney damage, miscarriages, increase in blood pressure, disruption of nervous system, brain damage, decline make fertility, etc.
• Beryllium – Their common sources are connectors, mother boards and finger clips. When inhaled, beryllium Commons can lead to an irreversible and sometimes fatal scarring of the lungs – berilliosis or Chronic Beryllium Disease (CBD), and can affect other organs such as the lymph nodes, skin, spleen, liver, kidney and heart.
• Polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) – They are found in electrical transformers, capacitors of TV sets, computer monitors and radios, polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Chloracne and related dermal lesions have been reported in workers occasionally exposed to PCBs. Others are pigmentation disturbance of the skin and nails, erythema and thickening of the skin, and burning sensation. Reproductive functioning may be disrupted by exposure to PCBs, and Neurobehavioural developmental deficit have been reported in newborns exposed to PCBs in Uthero.
• Mecury (Hg) – Found in batteries, flat screen TV sets, switches, relays, computer housing, Mecury is persistent in the environment because it never breaks down or go away. When products and wastes containing Mercury are improperly disposed, Mercury is released into the air, ground or water. Exposure to Mercury can affect thinking, memory, attention, language, fine motor skills and visual spacial abilities.
• Barium – found in CRT, vacuum tubes, barium is dangerous as a be result of it’s extensive use in ewaste. Barium’s concentration in air, water and soil maybe higher than naturally occurring concentrations in many locations. Most of the health risk that people working on ewaste are exposed to include paralysis and in some cases, even death.
• Cadmium – Can be seen in sources like steel housing of CPU, Chrome plating and in metal ceramics. The uptake of too much cadmium can cause health effects as well – skin rashes, upset stomach, ulcers, respiratory problems, weakened immune system, kidney and liver dàmage, alteration of genetic materials, Lung cancer and even death.
• Cadmium (CD) – Sources are: switches, solder joints, housing coatings, cathode Ray tubes and rechargeable batteries. High exposure to cadmium can occur especially to people who live near ewaste sites or factories that release cadmium into the air. When cadmium is released into the environment, people breathe it. They stand there chance of having severe lung damaged that f can lead to death. Cadmium accumulates in the kidney, damaging it’s filtering mechanism. Other health problems are diarrhea, stomach ache, be severe vomiting, damage to the central nervous system, my and immune system.
• Ninylphenol (Np) – can be found in insulators, housing, casing. The toxicity of NP is said to be low in humans. However NP is highly irritating and corrosive to the skin and eyes. In the environment, NP is highly toxic to fish, aquatic invertebrates and aquatic plants.
