Abstract
Background:A walk through the Agbogbloshie e-waste recycling site shows a marked heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of the different e-waste processing activities, which are likely to drive clustering of health conditions associated with the different activity type in each space.Objective of study:To conduct a spatial assessment and analysis of health conditions associated with different e-waste activities at different activity spaces at Agbogbloshie.Methods:A choropleth showing the various activity spaces at the Agbogbloshie e-waste site was produced by mapping boundaries of these spaces using Etrex GPS device and individuals working in each activity spaces were recruited and studied. Upon obtaining consent and agreeing to participate in the study, each subject was physically examined and assessed various health outcomes of interest via direct physical examination while characterizing and enumerating the scars, lacerations, abrasions, skin condition and cuts after which both systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were recorded alongside the administration of open and close ended questionnaires. All individuals working within each activity space and consented to participate were recruited; giving a total of one hundred and twelve (112) subjects in all.Results:A study of the choropleth showed that health conditions associated e-waste processing activities were clustered in a fashion similar to the corresponding distribution of each activity. While a total of 96.2% of all the study subjects had cuts, the dismantlers had higher mix of scars, lacerations and abrasions. Abrasions were observed in 16.3% of the dismantlers. Scars were the most common skin condition and were observed on the skins of 93.6% of the subjects. Prevalence of burns among the study subjects was 23.1%. Developing hypertension was not associated with activity type and while a total of 90.2% of subjects had normal blood pressure and 9.8% of them were hypertensives. Finally, 98.2% of respondents felt the need to have a first aid clinic at the site with 96.4% and 97.3% willing to visit the clinic and pay for services respectively.Conclusion:We conclude that while the observed injuries were random and were due purely to accidents without any role of spatial determinants such as the configuration, slope, topography and other subterranean features of the activity spaces, a strong association between the injuries and activity type was observed.
Highlights
A walk through the Agbogbloshie e-waste recycling site shows a marked heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of the different e-waste processing activities, which are likely to drive clustering of health conditions associated with the different activity type in each space
Agbogbloshie, known as Old Fadama, serves as a home to some 40,000 people who are among the world poorest urban populations [3, 4]
As seen on the choropleth, regions WB, FA, SE and WBE were mapped along the banks of Odaw River while regions NEW, WB, WBE and NCP bounded the Abossey Okai road
Summary
A walk through the Agbogbloshie e-waste recycling site shows a marked heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of the different e-waste processing activities, which are likely to drive clustering of health conditions associated with the different activity type in each space. Objective of study: To conduct a spatial assessment and analysis of health conditions associated with different e-waste activities at different activity spaces at Agbogbloshie. The Agbogbloshie area which is a major site for informal e-waste recycling is less than one kilometre from the Central Business District of Accra and is about thirty-one hectares in size [3, 5, 6]. Known widely for a mix of both formal and informal economic activities, which co-exist in an environment charged with tensions among the economic actors, ongoing research has established that toxic chemical mixtures often generated during e-waste recovery activities resulting in high levels of exposures which are affecting a broad spectrum of the urban population, especially among the e-waste recovery workers [4, 6, 10, 11]
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