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Multi-Trace Element Levels and Arsenic Speciation in Urine of E-Waste Recycling Workers from Agbogbloshie, Accra in Ghana

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Multi-Trace Element Levels and Arsenic Speciation in Urine of E-Waste Recycling Workers from Agbogbloshie, Accra in Ghana Science of the Total Environment 424 (2012) 63–73 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv Multi-trace element levels and arsenic speciation in urine of e-waste recycling workers from Agbogbloshie, Accra in Ghana Kwadwo Ansong Asante a,b, Tetsuro Agusa a, Charles Augustus Biney c, William Atuobi Agyekum b, Mohammed Bello b, Masanari Otsuka a,d, Takaaki Itai a, Shin Takahashi a, Shinsuke Tanabe a,⁎ a Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University, Bunkyo-cho 2-5, Matsuyama 790-8577, Japan b CSIR Water Research Institute, P. O. Box AH 38, Achimota, Accra, Ghana c Volta Basin Authority (VBA), 10 P. O. Box 13621, Ouagadougou 10, Burkina Faso d Ehime Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, 8-234 Sanban-cho, Matsuyama 790-0003, Japan article info abstract Article history: To understand human contamination by multi-trace elements (TEs) in electrical and electronic waste Received 31 January 2012 (e-waste) recycling site at Agbogbloshie, Accra in Ghana, this study analyzed TEs and As speciation in Received in revised form 25 February 2012 urine of e-waste recycling workers. Concentrations of Fe, Sb, and Pb in urine of e-waste recycling workers Accepted 27 February 2012 were significantly higher than those of reference sites after consideration of interaction by age, indicating that Available online 24 March 2012 the recycling workers are exposed to these TEs through the recycling activity. Urinary As concentration was rel- atively high, although the level in drinking water was quite low. Speciation analysis of As in human urine Keywords: Trace elements revealed that arsenobetaine and dimethylarsinic acid were the predominant As species and concentrations of E-waste both species were positively correlated with total As concentration as well as between each other. These results Urine suggest that such compounds may be derived from the same source, probably fish and shellfish and greatly in- As speciation fluence As exposure levels. To our knowledge, this is the first study on human contamination resulting from the Agbogbloshie primitive recycling of e-waste in Ghana. This study will contribute to the knowledge about human exposure to Ghana trace elements from an e-waste site in a less industrialized region so far scantly covered in the literature. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction one major destination for e-waste worldwide. In these developing countries, there are few infrastructure and protocols to safely recycle In the 21st century, electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) has and dispose of hazardous e-waste and legislation dealing specifically become an emerging environmental and human health problem in with their flow and regulations for maintaining the environment and the world (Schmidt, 2002, 2006). E-waste refers to the end-of-life human health are not always effective. For instance, recyclers use electronic products including televisions, monitors, computers, primitive methods (mechanical shredding and open burning) to audio and stereo equipment, video cameras, fax/photocopy machines remove plastic insulation from copper cables. This technique can re- and printers, telephones, motherboards, mobile phones, chips, wire- lease highly toxic chemicals and severely affect the environment and less devices, cathode ray tubes, and other peripheral items (Frazzoli human health if improperly managed. Indeed, heavy contamination et al., 2010). These contain harmful chemicals such as brominated by TEs and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlori- flame retardants (BFRs) and classical toxic trace elements (TEs), Pb, nated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and furans (PCDFs), and polybro- Cd, Hg, As, and Cr. Furthermore, rare TEs including Sb, In, and Tl, minated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in soil, water, air, and humans which have recently been a matter of concern because of their envi- from the recycling town of Guiyu in South China, which is one of ronmental behavior and toxic effects (Ha et al., 2009), are also present the largest recycling centers for e-waste in the world, were reported in e-waste. According to the United Nations Environment Programme by several studies (Schmidt, 2002; Wang et al., 2005; Deng et al., (UNEP) (2005),20–50 million tons of e-waste are generated annually 2006; Leung et al., 2006, 2007; Huo et al., 2007; Bi et al., 2007; Li in the world. Of these quantities, significant amounts of e-waste have et al., 2007; Wong et al., 2007a,b,c). been exported to developing countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Our research group investigated informal e-waste recycling sites in Vietnam, and the Philippines for recycling (UNEP, 2005). Recently, de- Bangalore, India (Ha et al., 2009) and the Red River Delta in Vietnam veloping nations of West Africa (e.g. Ghana and Nigeria) have become (Tue et al., 2010a, 2010b) and found significant contamination by TEs such as Pb, Sb, Cu, In, and Bi, PBDEs, and dioxin-like chemicals in soil, air, house dust, and humans. However, until now there is no available ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +81 89 927 8171. study on the chemical contamination status at e-waste recycling sites E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Tanabe). in Africa. The United Nations' Basel Convention on the control of 0048-9697/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.02.072 64 K.A. Asante et al. / Science of the Total Environment 424 (2012) 63–73 transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal them in 1994 (Amoyaw-Osei et al., 2011). The scrap yard has grown governs how nations that have ratified it handle e-waste containing steadily into a popular recycling area and is reputed to be the dump- hazardous materials. Although Ghana ratified the Basel Convention ing ground for disused computers, TVs, and other electronic and elec- in 2005, its provisions are yet to be incorporated into a national legisla- trical devices as well as household waste (Fig. 1). Thus to date, tion and so the dangers posed to humans and the environment from Agbogbloshie has become the hub of informal ‘recycling’ industry in such e-waste are not properly addressed. For instance, there are no spe- Ghana. People trying to make ends meet manually disassemble com- cific regulations that restrict e-waste recycling and as such, e-waste re- ponents and heavily pollute the area through the burning of cables cyclers work in appalling conditions, exposing themselves and the and smashing of computer monitors and other electronic devices to environs to serious hazards. Agbogbloshie in Accra is the graveyard of retrieve metals and Cu from plastics in which they are encased to e-waste in Ghana. Heaps of e-waste are continually dumped there with- sell. While they busily and incessantly burn the cables, the immediate out any regard for the hazard that they pose to the environment and environment is engulfed in thick black smoke, which takes hours to people living in the vicinity. clear. Because it is a continuous act done daily, there is no respite To explicate the exposure status of TEs in e-waste recycling for people living in the environs or those who move in and out of workers from Accra, Ghana, this study analyzed TE concentrations the area. Much of this activity is carried out by young men, mostly in urine from the workers. In addition, the quality of drinking water using rudimentary tools and with no protective equipment. Ghana sources was assessed as the potential exposure source of TEs in has an unregulated and unrestricted import regime for second hand local people. electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). Therefore, any e-waste could enter the country under the guise of second hand EEE without 2. Materials and methods detection. The demand for EEE in Ghana continues to grow by the day and in 2009, the EEE imports into Ghana added up to 2.1. Study areas 215,000 tons and a per capita import of 9 kg (Amoyaw-Osei et al., 2011). Most of the e-waste comes from Europe and North America Accra with a population of about 4 million is the capital of Ghana (Amoyaw-Osei et al., 2011). (population of about 25 million) and the largest city in terms of in- Obuasi, a district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana and 200 km dustrial establishment and infrastructural development. Over 70% of northwest of Accra, has been the center of large-scale gold mining ac- Ghana's manufacturing capacity is located in Accra. Agbogbloshie tivity since the late 19th century through AngloGold Ashanti Limited scrap market located in Accra is the main center for the recovery of (formerly Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, AGC). In 2004, AGC merged materials from e-waste. Situated on the bank of the Odaw River and with AngloGold of South Africa to create the world's second-largest in the upper reaches of the Korle Lagoon, the Agbogbloshie site gold producer, AngloGold Ashanti Limited. The main gold-bearing started as a food stuff market for onions and yam. Over the years, it ore is arsenopyrite. Mining activity in Obuasi is known to have grew into a slum with people dealing in all kinds of scrap on a large given rise to substantial airborne As pollution (Amasa, 1975). Thus, scale. The scrap dealers discovering the place as a good location for As contamination as well as other toxic elements in the environment business later registered with the National Youth Council as the of Obuasi arise as a result of the mining activity, in addition to natural Scrap Dealers' Association of Ghana, and the land was leased to processes of water–rock interaction and sulfide oxidation. A B C D E F Fig.
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