Post by diane9247 on Mar 31, 2015 4:17:26 GMT
Agbogbloshie e-waste dump.kmz (1.08 KB)
This e-waste dump, in Agbogbloshie, a neighborhood of Accra, Ghana, is often called the largest of its kind in the world. The developed world's e-waste is shipped to this dump from Europe, Australia and the US, in some cases illegally. The illegality is in the country of origin, not in Ghana. Teenage boys and girls sort and dismantle computers, cell phones and copy machines. Most components are recycled, but the rest, such as plastic covers around cables and large cases, are burned. Toxic smoke rises from this dump almost daily. Men in the recycling business set up shop at the dump to buy parts by the pound and competition is fierce among the dump workers to sell to them.
Young children are also a source of dump workers and are the most likely ones to be sent to burn parts, which exposes them and everyone else downwind to heavy metals in the black smoke. Consequences of exposure to heavy metals to children's health and neurological development are usually irreversible.
Eventually, debris and contaminants from burning wash out to sea from the dead river adjoining the dump. The black drainage into the ocean can be clearly seen on Google Earth.
For a closer look at what goes on here, watch this 15-minute film: E-Waste Hell - Ghana (Journeyman Pictures). See story and more photos by Michael Ciaglo on Ethosmag.
Wikimedia Commons/Lantus
Wikimedia Commons/MarleneNapoli
This e-waste dump, in Agbogbloshie, a neighborhood of Accra, Ghana, is often called the largest of its kind in the world. The developed world's e-waste is shipped to this dump from Europe, Australia and the US, in some cases illegally. The illegality is in the country of origin, not in Ghana. Teenage boys and girls sort and dismantle computers, cell phones and copy machines. Most components are recycled, but the rest, such as plastic covers around cables and large cases, are burned. Toxic smoke rises from this dump almost daily. Men in the recycling business set up shop at the dump to buy parts by the pound and competition is fierce among the dump workers to sell to them.
Young children are also a source of dump workers and are the most likely ones to be sent to burn parts, which exposes them and everyone else downwind to heavy metals in the black smoke. Consequences of exposure to heavy metals to children's health and neurological development are usually irreversible.
Eventually, debris and contaminants from burning wash out to sea from the dead river adjoining the dump. The black drainage into the ocean can be clearly seen on Google Earth.
For a closer look at what goes on here, watch this 15-minute film: E-Waste Hell - Ghana (Journeyman Pictures). See story and more photos by Michael Ciaglo on Ethosmag.
Wikimedia Commons/Lantus
Wikimedia Commons/MarleneNapoli
