Researching Health Impact Disparities Among Women at the Agbogbloshie E-Waste Site an Interactive Qualifying Project Submitted to the Faculty of The

Project Number: E-project-032421-123026

Researching Health Impact Disparities Among Women at the Agbogbloshie E-Waste Site An Interactive Qualifying Project Submitted to the Faculty of the

WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science by Nada Abojaradeh Jackson Hauman Architectural Engineering Mechanical Engineering

Alexa Freglette Samuel Leonard Computer Science Mechanical Engineering & Professional Writing & Mathematics 18 March 2021

Approved by: Professor M. S. Fofana, PhD, Advisor MIRAD Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department

Professor Robert Krueger, PhD, Co-Advisor Department of Social Sciences and Policy

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 1

ABSTRACT 2

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 3

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 4

CHAPTER 2. THE ETHOS OF OUR APPROACH 5

CHAPTER 3. CHEMICALS AND OTHER PATHOGENS FROM E-WASTE 8

CHAPTER 4. THE PATHWAYS OF EXPOSURE 10 4.1 Air Pollution 11 4.2 Water and Food Pollution 12 4.3 Soil Pollution 12

CHAPTER 5. HEALTH IMPACT DISPARITIES AMONG WOMEN 13

CHAPTER 6. DISCUSSION 17

CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS 18

Images 21

Quotes 24

REFERENCES 25

ABSTRACT

Agbogbloshie, the largest electronic waste dump in the world and home to about 80,000 women, men, and children, is located in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Agbogbloshie is a thoroughly polluted place, and those who work there are exposed to serious health and safety risks (Srigbho, Basu, Stephens, et al., 2016). In this area, the urban poor of Accra have spent years dismantling, recovering, weighing, and reselling parts and metals extracted from the scrapped devices and from the heaps of electronic waste, or e-waste.

Women, although not directly interacting with e-waste, are an integral part of the site. Often working as traveling merchants, women sell items such as food and water to other workers. This results in continuous exposure to many of the same toxic hazards and elements as the male workers. They are also in charge of the work associated with a family, increasing their risk. However, minimal research has been conducted on these female residents.

The purpose of this study is to focus our concern on these female workers, as well as other demographics of the community, to characterize their exposures to e-waste hazards in regard to health. In this project, we consulted feminist methodologies to help us better understand the effects on different groups within Agbogbloshie, which allowed us to capture the experiences of women who are usually disregarded when it comes to policy (Woodward, Duncanson, and Jenkings, 2017). Due to the research imbalance in such areas and the gender gap in exposure to e-waste hazards, our group has decided to highlight the negative health impacts that women face in the e-waste sector by identifying these gaps and creating recommendations for a future more-in-depth scientific approach to work on solving these issues.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank Professor Krueger and Professor Fofana for their guidance, encouragement and critique that allowed the project to come to fruition. Through them, we were also able to work more closely with Ghanaian partners. We thank Hector Boye and Julian Bennet for providing us with the information that allowed us to explore the lives of the Ghanaians during the Pandemic. Finally, we would like to thank our WPI associates Ben Nephew and Hermine Vedogbeton for helping provide us with the information and tools necessary to complete the project. We would like to thank everyone once again for their adaptability to the virtual setting we had to utilize this year

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Agbogbloshie, the largest electronic waste dump in the world and home to about 80,000 women, men and children, is located in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Agbogbloshie is a thoroughly polluted place, and those who work there are exposed to serious health and safety risks (Srigbho, Basu, Stephens, et al., 2016). In this area, the urban poor of Accra have spent years dismantling, recovering, weighing, and reselling parts and metals extracted from the scrapped devices and from the heaps of electronic waste, or e-waste.

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Women, although not directly interacting with e-waste, are an integral part of the site. Often working as traveling merchants, women sell items such as food and water to other workers. This results in continuous exposure to many of the same toxic hazards and elements as the male e-waste workers. They are also usually in charge of the unpaid work associated with a family, increasing their exposure. However, minimal research has been conducted on these female residents. INSERT IMAGE 2 HERE

The purpose of this study was to focus on the disproportionate effects that hazards have on women. In this project, we performed research to reveal the health effects on women living on the site, bringing attention to those who are often overlooked in policy and academic research. We elucidate the pathways in which women of Agbogbloshie are exposed to e-waste to provide a better understanding of how the hazards of e-waste can affect non-workers. By doing this, we hope that future policymakers will be better informed about women’s lived experiences. This project builds the foundation for and offers direction to future research in the area.

We have discovered all those living on the site receive a similar exposure to pollution, regardless of work. Despite the comparable environment, effects across genders are different. For example, while men might be burning wires on the e-waste site, women work as traveling merchants and run the household. When they perform unpaid work, they may breathe in hazardous fumes and can face the danger of indoor air pollution. Furthermore, women are physiologically different from men meaning the same exact exposure to an environmental hazard

is likely to impact women differently. While compiling our information of the Agbogbloshie site, we came to the realization that the focus was rarely on women, resulting in arbitrary risk assessments. Because of this, we decided that it was important to highlight women in our research in order to draw attention to their disparities.

CHAPTER 2. THE ETHOS OF OUR APPROACH

Traditionally, international development projects rarely address community needs. Instead, Western nations generally act in their best interests without adapting to different cultures and customs. This reinforces the colonial aspect of any project in which developed nations pursue to “help” an underdeveloped nation. Ideally, research projects are meant to serve the greater good of humanity. However, assuming that every researcher upholds this goal is unrealistic. In many cases, instead of serving marginalized people, Western researchers and academics make their own assumptions about these communities based on a few - if any - encounters with them (Smith, 2013). Nowadays, we see improvement by holding designers accountable for their actions and the intentions behind their projects. This is very important; keeping the intent in mind while making something sustainable for nations in need is a start, but it is not targeting the core problem. Development has come a long way, but without reallocating power back to countries healing from the impacts of colonization and allowing the most marginalized to make their own decisions, we will not progress. For our project to truly benefit the community, it was necessary to disregard Western ideas of development that contribute to silencing the most marginalized. Instead, we decided to follow multiple guiding ethos such as feminist methodologies, co-design and generative justice.

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Our research design process incorporates feminist methodologies to help us better understand how e-waste in Agbobloshie affects everyone in the community. Feminist methodologies capture the experiences of women who are often disregarded when it comes to academic research and policies (Woodward, Duncanson, & Jenkings, 2017). It is a way of conducting research that addresses the historical power structures and inequities in research that have served to silence the most marginalized individuals in society.

In the spirit of co-design, we cannot execute a project for an entire community without having a diverse representation of its people. To gain this perspective, it was necessary to dig deeper into the different narratives regarding harmful effects of e-waste, making sure to incorporate that into our research. By including a variety of different people, feminist research

gives a voice to those who are often neglected in society. Furthermore, this methodology exudes the principles of co-design by identifying false assumptions about women and honoring lived experiences, allowing research to be both for and about women (Somekh & Lewin, 2005). Due to a lack of feminist perspective in policies and regulations, women are often overlooked; false assumptions are made about how they live their day-to-day lives and how their bodies function. Therefore, it was critical to include these feminist methodologies in our research as a form of resistance against power structures that uphold these norms.

Engineers are wired to solve narrowly defined technical problems, but when it comes to complex socio-technical issues such as those at Agbogbloshie, we need to recognize that working on solutions requires more than strictly moving through steps. Interdisciplinary projects require both problem solving, social science, and human-centered design skills, and one cannot exist without the other. Solving problems without working with the community may result in unsuccessful projects.

This project is primarily a scientific study into women’s pathways of exposure to toxins from e-waste processing. To conduct a project in the best interest of the community, we should collaborate alongside those who live and work in Agbogbloshie. Unfortunately, the ongoing pandemic has made direct community engagement nearly impossible. Although we couldn't incorporate co-design as we had originally planned, we established the necessary first steps towards prioritizing policy and action around the implications of e-waste for women living in Agbogbloshie.

An aspect of codesign that we were able to utilize was generative justice. Generative justice is the idea of empowering a community through knowledge so that they may continue to build a project while making it their own and spreading ideas. Through our research of health issues and effects of e-waste, we have made information more readily available so the Ghanaian community can better understand the harmful effects of contamination. Additionally, by working with the staff at the Agbogbloshie site, we created an informational brochure which will be used to educate those in the community. By combining their personal experiences along with the information we have made accessible, the Agbogbloshie community can continue to contribute

and adapt to address their own needs. Furthermore, the information provided in this brochure will aid in their understanding of the health implications resulting from e-waste exposure.

CHAPTER 3. CHEMICALS AND OTHER PATHOGENS FROM E-WASTE

It is important to understand the health implications of various toxic pollutants in the environment. Some of the most prevalent and detrimental chemicals are PCBs, dioxins, mercury, lead, nickel, and cadmium. These toxins exist at high levels in Agbogbloshie as a direct result of e-waste, accumulating in the body through pathways such as air, food, water, and soil. These chemicals each have adverse effects on the quality of life for the community.

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PCBs, or Polychlorinated biphenyls, are a group of man-made chemicals that are widely used in electronic equipment such as capacitors and transformers. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or IARC, PCBs are considered carcinogens in humans. Other effects associated with PCBs include a disruption of the immune, reproduction and nervous system (Environmental Protection Agency, 2020).

Similar to PCBs, dioxins are another dangerous and carcinogenic chemical compound group that persist in the environment from the burning of e-waste. These chemicals have been linked to damage to the immune, nervous and endocrine systems. They have also been linked to birth defects and some cancers. These chemicals are notoriously hard to remove from fatty tissue and as a result can travel through the food chain. A study researching levels of toxic dioxins in free-range chicken eggs at Agbogbloshie were found at alarming levels. The eggs reported in the study showed that dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs exceed the tolerable daily intake recommended by the World Health Organization by nearly 32-fold (Petrlik, Adu-Kumi, Hogarh, et al., 2019). These extremely high levels of dioxins could cause permanent damage to people regularly ingesting them.

Arguably more dangerous are heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and nickel due to their impact on human health. These heavy metals are difficult for the body to process, resulting in damage to the nervous, reproductive, and respiratory systems. Furthermore, these metals have a tendency to bioaccumulate, or increase in concentration, in the environment overtime. After long-term exposure, they can cause issues such as liver failure and kidney

damage (Li & Achal, 2020). Lead and mercury are especially dangerous as they can cause severe damage to the nervous system, specifically causing neurobehavioral issues in children. Because of this, both of these toxins are considered detrimental, even in small amounts. Short term exposure of lead can cause headaches, fatigue, cognitive issues, abdominal pain, brain damage, and even death. While long term exposure can cause infertility, depression, and cancer (CDC, 2020). Mercury is not as extreme but results in similar health effects, ranging from headaches and fatigue to memory loss and other cognitive issues (Health Effects of Exposures to Mercury, 2021).

Most of the studies and regulations set up by health organizations do not take into account places such as Agbogbloshie. Guidelines are set in place for workers assuming exposure occurs over a forty-hour work week; when work is finished, people will return to their toxin free home. In reality, exposure to toxins at Agbogbloshie is ever-present not only to the workers, but the community living in and around the site. With the elevated exposure, any of the aforementioned effects can be more severe.

CHAPTER 4. THE PATHWAYS OF EXPOSURE

With the rise of consumerism, technology is becoming obsolete quicker than ever, generating large amounts of electronic waste. Due to the negative health impacts from processing e-waste, most nations limit imports. The guidelines set by the Basel Convention, an environmental treaty aimed at reducing the transfer of waste, discourages exportation of e-waste to poorer nations (Basel Convention, 2011). China, one of the largest international importers of e-waste, shut their processing sites in 2002, causing other nations to import more waste (Lu, Zhang, Zhong, 2015). As a result, the West began increasing its e-waste exports to developing countries in Africa. Today, over 215 thousand tons of e-waste and electronic equipment are imported per year to Ghana alone (Minter, 2016). However, these numbers may underestimate the number of imports. Since both imports and exports of electronic waste are discouraged, a very high percentage of e-waste sent to Ghana is conducted through illegal, hard to track, means.

The uncontrolled nature of the processing and dumping of waste at Agbogbloshie poses serious health hazards not only to those who handle e-waste but also to those who reside on the site, specifically women. For these reasons we explored different pathways of exposure to understand how toxins are reaching non-workers. We identified four main pathways toxins reach those living in Agbogbloshie: air, water, food, and soil.

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CHAPTER 4.1 AIR POLLUTION Air pollution is especially dangerous in Agbogbloshie because of the method used to extract raw materials. The most efficient way to earn their livelihood is to extract copper within wires by burning off insulation. Workers who burn e-waste and stand directly near the smoke have the largest health risk. However, smoke travels into the air and affects everyone in and around the site. Breathing in chemicals, such as PCPs in rubber and lead in solder, can result in detrimental health effects. A study performed on an e-waste site in Guiyu, China focused on forced vital capacity to test lung function. The study found that those working on site had a lower lung function than the average person, hypothesized to be a result of constant exposure to high levels of manganese and nickel in the air (Zeng, Xu, Boezen, & Huo, 2016). Interestingly, the

study only focused on young boys ages eight to nine, neglecting women who are more susceptible to nickel (Vahter, Berglund, Åkesson, et al., 2002). Furthermore, it is difficult to extrapolate the data of the whole population when it neglects a large portion of the people.

CHAPTER 4.2 WATER & FOOD POLLUTION There is a large concern for the contamination at Agbogbloshie due to its close proximity to bodies of water. The Odaw River runs through the site of Agbogbloshie and settles in the nearby Korle Lagoon. Since the site is close to the water, there is a high potential for toxic chemicals seeping into the water supply. With hundreds of tons of e-waste showing up at scrap yards every year, managing it safely is a virtually impossible task. As a vast majority of the e- waste site is located on a low-lying area, rain can easily carry away traces of toxins such as lead, copper and zinc, bringing them into the groundwater or as runoff into the river (Huang, Nkrumah, Anim, et al., 2014)

Once in the water, these chemicals pose a great risk to the environment and subsequently, human health. Aquatic life near Agbogbloshie is often exposed to higher levels of copper, lead and zinc. Organisms cannot process these toxins, instead storing them in their kidneys and liver. With lead building up in fish, their vital organs start losing functionality, eventually leading to death (Petrlik, Adu-Kumi, Hogarh, et al., 2019). When water is polluted, the contamination will travel up the food chain; because of this, biomagnification occurs, affecting the whole ecosystem. Biomagnification is the process of toxins building on each level of the food chain, as any organisms that eat toxic fish will also receive the toxins in high amounts. The use of fish meal as fertilizer in Ghana creates another example of biomagnification (Heer, 2009). Through the fertilizer in the soil, toxins will travel up the food chain. The contaminated soil causes toxins to accumulate in crops, affecting those who eat them.

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CHAPTER 4.3 SOIL POLLUTION E-waste has a significant impact on soil and, as a result, the food chain. Nearly any plant grown in contaminated soil will become toxic. A study conducted in 2020 tested for metals in polluted soil from the burning site in Agbogbloshie. In the soil, metals such as copper, arsenic,

cadmium, antimony, and lead were of an alarming presence; the main route these metals entered the body was through oral ingestion (Cao, Fujimori, Juhasz, et al., 2019). Local residents and their livestock are exposed to heavy metals due to hazardous e-waste products contaminating the soil. Families in Agbogbloshie often own free-range animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, and chickens that roam around the site. Although there is a lack of research on the crops in Agbogbloshie, one can have a better understanding by looking at other e-waste sites. For instance, soils at another e-waste recycling site in Bangalore, India contained hazardous levels of metals, such as lead and mercury. The values at this site were more than one-hundredfold larger than the control sites nearby the same city (Ngoc Ha, Agusa, Ramu, et al., 2009). Another study conducted in China, showed levels of lead and cadmium in rice were two to four times more than the standard threshold accepted by the Chinese government (Fu, Zhou, Liu, et al., 2008). More concerning, the crops grown near Agbogbloshie, tend to absorb a larger amount of lead and other heavy metals from the soil, making them even more dangerous (Oteng-Ababio, Chama & Amankwaa, 2014). Grazing livestock can become contaminated by eating polluted greenery as well as from toxic soil, air, and water particles. Each of the exposure pathways magnifies the already present health risks associated with e-waste. However, exposure does not affect everyone equally. It is important to examine differences, such as gender, to better understand the effects of exposure.

CHAPTER 5. HEALTH IMPACT DISPARITIES AMONG WOMEN

There is limited research concerning non-worker groups in Agbogbloshie. From these few studies, it is shown that both workers and non-workers face the same adverse health effects. One study, conducted in 2020 to assess the health consequences for e-waste workers and bystanders, found that there were no drastic health differences between the two groups. The only differences were work related injuries that occurred during e-waste handling (Fischer, Seidu, Yang, et al., 2020). This shows that bystanders, such as women, should receive more attention in occupational health research and interventions. In 2014, a study that included both men and women was conducted to characterize their exposure to several essential and toxic elements in urine and blood. This study was performed to analyze exposure to multiple toxic elements, some at concerning levels. The females recruited for this study did not perform any tasks directly related to e-waste recycling, instead, they were involved in selling items including food, drinks, and cigarettes. It was determined the only toxin that was significantly higher in male participants was lead levels in blood. Meanwhile, the median values of several of the studied elements were higher amongst the females, with urinary nickel and zinc being significantly higher. Nickel is specifically detrimental; it is carcinogenic, causes lung damage and causes respiratory failure. Women are impacted disproportionately to nickel exposure as they are more likely to develop a nickel allergy compared to men (Vahter, Berglund, Åkesson, et al., 2002). These findings are crucial for policy makers to take into account when determining the threat of environmental hazards on the community.

Women have been historically excluded and underrepresented from clinical and biomedical trials (Swanston, 1994). Previously, studies on diseases that predominantly affect women have excluded them. For example, past studies on breast cancer have used samples from only male tissue (Zwelling, 1994). Furthermore, certain illnesses that disproportionately affect women more than men, such as autoimmune diseases, are some of the most misunderstood illnesses in medicine today (Krupp, 2000). More recently, women have been increasingly included as subjects in clinical trials, though scientists have failed to analyze their data for sex and social differences. This makes treating, diagnosing, and preventing disease in women more difficult and adds bias to regulatory agencies that exclude women in risk assessments (Swanston, 1994).

Establishing environmental standards and determining the threat of pollutants is evaluated by risk assessments. Risk assessments, a seemingly objective method, are based on scientific processes and measures (Collin, 1994). However, biases still occur when deciding on chemicals to regulate and the diseases to focus on. Governmental regulations use risk assessments to protect vulnerable or highly exposed populations. However, not everyone is protected equally; when considering women's susceptibility to environmental hazards, the regulations put in place are questionable. Women’s health is often ignored in many risk assessments, such as for air pollution, where focus is primarily on cancer risks. Despite this focus, cancers specific to women have often been overlooked due to the lack of research on women's health (Krupp, 2000). By only examining cancer effects, risk assessments also overlook many non-cancerous risks specific to vulnerable populations, such as individuals with asthma, allergies and respiratory infections (Möller, Schuetzle, & Autrup, 1994). For example, women's health risks from indoor air pollution have gone unrecognized. Most indoor pollutants directly affect respiratory and cardiovascular systems, and the probability of cancer is low (Hoskins, 2003). One study in Bangladesh showed that women have double the exposure to indoor air pollution in comparison to men (Dasgupta, Huq, Khaliquzzaman, et al., 2006). Recent studies suggest that indoor air pollution may significantly impact women's health, especially since they are more likely to work at home. There is little published information regarding indoor air pollution and its effects towards women who live on contaminated sites, such as Agbogbloshie, however it is likely that results are similar.

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Women are affected differently by the same exposure to an environmental hazard because of social and physiological differences (Swanston, 1994). Populations studied for risk

assessments often do not include women and involve many arbitrary assumptions (Heinzerling, 2000). This results in the scientific analysis to determine safe levels of exposure, protecting only individuals similar to the average male, rather than the entire population. Instead of considering these key differences, any emphasis placed on women revolves solely around their reproductive health, creating the illusion that a woman's needs are being met (Krupp, 2000). Through the research conducted in this project, we have found that the most significant differences between genders are physical size, body fat, hormones, and pregnancy. Women, on average, are smaller and have less body weight, drastically reducing their tolerance to many toxins. With a lower tolerance to toxins, the effects of exposure towards women are greater than their male counterparts (Swanston, 1993). Environmental pollutants, such as PCBs and dioxins, are especially common on sites such as Agbogbloshie. These toxins often disrupt key bodily functions, most notably the nervous and immune systems. However, these chemical compounds do not affect everyone equally. Many toxins have a tendency to accumulate more heavily in fatty tissue. On average, women have a higher percentage of body fat than men, resulting in PCBs and dioxins affecting women disproportionately (Verchick, 1996).

Another key physiological difference is reproductive hormones, which when compounded with environmental pollution, results in adverse impacts on women’s health, such as infertility (Krupp, 2000). Hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy and menopause create an increase in susceptibility to these hazards. Since women are also exposed to larger amounts of contaminated food and water while pregnant, there is an increased level of toxins entering their bodies (Brown, 1998). When a pregnant woman is exposed to contaminated air, water, soil, and food, the toxins are also affecting her developing baby. The fetus is exposed to toxins from its mother, leading to birth defects and miscarriages (Krupp, 2000). Even after birth, a child’s health is heavily impacted by its mother. Many toxins, specifically lead, are passed from a mother to her child through breastfeeding. At a young, vulnerable age, a child ingesting toxins through breastmilk may receive neurological damage (Gulson, Jameson, Mahaffey, et al., 1998). With the high risk of environmental hazards associated with children, the health impacts that pregnancy have on the mothers are often forgotten.

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Women, exposed to the same contamination as men, suffer from different health impacts. One study indicated that women are four times more likely to develop bladder cancer than men; interestingly, 80% of bladder cancer cases are associated with environmental exposure (Vrijheid, 2000). Women are also at higher risk of autoimmune disorders such as Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune thyroid, and multiple sclerosis which are linked to environmental pollution. Furthermore, mercury, a common heavy metal found in e-waste, interferes with the immune system. Environmental estrogens and heavy metal toxicity have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer and may trigger osteoporosis - which is more common in women - by influencing bone density (Høyer, Grandjean, Jørgensen, et al., 1998) (Brown, 1998). Each of these key health differences cause women to be affected disproportionately by the same exposure to toxins as men. It is critical that risk assessments take into account that women are anatomically different, therefore creating variations in susceptibility to environmental hazards.

Due to the limited studies conducted concerning susceptibility in regard to gender in Agbogbloshie, there is little information of the direct impacts that occur at the site. It is likely, however, that those who live and work on the site face many of the aforementioned health effects. By disregarding half of the population when it comes to research, one cannot produce accurate results. It is important to take into account the physiological differences between women and men when making recommendations to a population; in doing so, one can make accurate risk assessments.

CHAPTER 6. DISCUSSION

For risk assessments to exude co-design, they must be created using accurate health data, representative of the entire community. To do this, a diversified group of community members should be incorporated in decision making. This results in working together so the solution will benefit everyone, using lived experiences rather than arbitrary assumptions. Furthermore, policymakers could create programs to educate community members on why certain decisions were made so that they may create their own projects and ideas.

For informed decisions to be made, it is necessary for more empirical research to be conducted, specifically on the pathways of exposure at Agbogbloshie. Although air pollution is heavily studied, there is still a lack of understanding on how e-waste affects the environment. Furthermore, pathways such as food, soil, and water play an essential role in toxins’ exposure to Agbogbloshie residents. Furthering the understanding of these pathways will aid both policymakers and those who live in Agbogbloshie, as they will gain a better understanding of the toxins they are exposed to. Once policymakers grasp this information, will they be able to formulate guidelines that will equally protect all lives.

CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

Women are excluded in academic research and policy decisions. To advance further, it is important to continue spreading information about the harmful effects that electronic waste hazards have on the whole community and educating policymakers about these topics. We have begun spreading information by sending a white paper to John Pwamang, the interim director of the Environmental Protection Agency in Ghana and informing him of the impacts that women face from e-waste. However, there is still much to accomplish. It is essential that minorities are considered in policymakers’ decision-making, especially in regard to risk assessments. One recommendation to achieve this would be giving women a voice in decision making, allowing them to share their lived experiences. However, this is a great obstacle to overcome, as the most marginalized have often been excluded from research and risk assessments throughout history. Unraveling a historical issue such as this will take time before a solution is found. If women were included in policies, decision making in Agbogbloshie would advance, specifically in regard to women’s health.

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Due to our unfortunate circumstances, we were unable to take full advantage of the key design ethos examples, such as co-design, which are necessary when working with other communities. We hope that in the future the project will continue alongside the Ghanaian counterparts which the project aimed to help. This will allow the information gathered in the project to focus specifically on the needs of the Ghanaian women, rather than to be gathered from literature review. The purpose of this project was to begin a discussion of why women’s health impacts should be explored and has laid the groundwork for more in-depth analysis of the impact of e-waste.

The continuation of this project must take into account the ongoing issues and disparities that are faced in Agbogbloshie. By making this information more accessible, the Ghanaian counterparts will be able to continue this project on their own, adjusting it as they wish to fit their own needs in order to limit exposure, protect their lives, and create risk assessments that consider the entire community. Once risk assessments begin taking into account anatomical and

socio-economic differences between genders, there will be a better understanding of women’s susceptibilities to environmental hazards. Furthermore, this feminist perspective on health impacts will result in more accurate studies and recommendations for those in Agbogbloshie.

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Quotes

Quote 1: “You will design things that fit within your own experiences. Even those that attempt to look outside their own experiences will only ever know what questions to ask based on that experience. Even those doing good research can only ask questions they think to ask.” ~Mike Monteiro

Quote 2: “We get a lot of health problems here, but we manage, because we need the money." ~Karim, a scrap dealer at Agbogbloshie in his interview with The Guardian.

Quote 3:

“Programs ... don’t take into special account women working in places like Agbogbloshie, even though they are more vulnerable. ‘For now we don’t have any studies coming up that would focus on [women].’” ~Ebenezer Kumi, a program officer with Adelphi, in an interview with Women’s Media Center.

Quote 4:

“All the research shows that investing in women is a good investment.” ~ Cherie Blair

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