With the usage of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) on the rise, the amount of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) produced each day has been on a steady rise around the world. In the last one decade Nigeria has seen a significant growth in ICT, the adaptation of computer technology, as well as a vast range of cyber-related activities in our everyday affairs. Thus almost every aspect of human activities today, especially relating to modern business and entertainment – telecommunications, electronic media, and even home equipment, etc. have all been tied to the use of electronic and computer technology.
There must be better and safer ways of getting rid of electronic waste materials without endangering the health of the community, yet nothing has been done to this effect. Why are the health authorities in Nigeria not yet dealing with this great health issue that is growing in leaps and bounds especially as the country walks deeper into the electronic nay information age – filled with an unending list of computers and hardware, and all manner of electronic equipment?
According to Adrian Clews, MD, Hinckley Associates, Nigeria, “the major problem is as a result of ignorance; it is a great global health threat,” he said in a Channels TV report recently. Health risks from e-waste can be from direct contact with harmful materials such as lead, cadmium, chromium, brominated flame retardants or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); from inhalation of toxic fumes, as well as from accumulation of chemicals in the soil, water and food, experts say. Clews confirmed that so many precious materials can actually be extracted from e-waste, such as gold, copper, and the rest of them, but added that adequate caution must be applied in the process.
But a prominent member of Importers of Computers at Computer Village, Lagos – Mr. O. G. Ilechukwu, says the problem is that of enforcement. He said even at that, “we have drastically reduced the rate of this behaviour by Nigerians. It should also be well noted that a good number of the second-hand products on sale, experts say “have reached their end of life”
Unknowing to many however, there is a great health risk in the unwholesome disposal of e-waste materials due to inadvertent chemical absorption. This according to experts is likely to impinge on the body’s functional systems including the central nervous, immune, reproductive as well as digestive systems. The problems incurred by such toxic exposures experts say, may actually lead to irreversible damage. But action speaks louder than words. What really is on ground right now, and what are the authorities concerned doing about this looming health danger? This is the question health watchers are asking right now.
There is a lot of unsafe recycling and burning going on; children especially are being exposed through dump sites that are located close to where they live, schools and play grounds. According to a study published by the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, “workers, some as young as six years of age, are routinely exposed to hazardous materials and inhalation of toxic gases through direct handling of discarded electronics.”
“We have a dump watch programme through which we are able to monitor e-waste importation and, or dumping. We need to have recycling plants because these things get to the water streams and pollute underground water,” says the prominent computer dealer at the Computer Village in Ikeja.
In recent years a number of international calls have gone out seeking ways to ameliorate and control the health burden of e-waste. In 2008 the Libreville Declaration was as a result of the first Inter-Ministerial Conference on Health and Environment in Africa. There was also the Busan Pledge for Action on Children’s Environmental Health of 2009, as well as the Strategic Approach to Integrated Chemical Management’s expanded Global Plan of Action issued at the International Conference on Chemical Management (ICCM3) in 2012.
Recently though, a number of initiatives have been going on in the international arena to check the health menace posed by e-waste. WHO in recent times launched the E-Waste and Child Health Initiative aiming at protecting children and their families from harmful health consequences resulting from e-waste. Yet, we count on the local health authorities as well as technology experts to engage more on how orderliness can be achieved in order to secure the health and lives of the environment and citizenry.
Morgan Nwanguma
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