
Audio By Carbonatix
Environmentalists are warning squatters at Agbogbloshie slum face major health risks hanging around the electronic dumpsite.
There are nearly 80,000 squatters dealing mainly in scrap metals for a living.
In order the get copper, the dealers burn cables from discarded computers and electronic gadgets. The huge smoke is inhaled which according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exposes them to a lot of health hazards.
An environmentalist Mike Anane explains "we are talking about a cocktail of heavy metal, lead, cadmium, mercury...lot of the people here are ignorant about what they are taking into their body...it is very dangerous" he said.
He has been campaigning that government takes immediate action to check the indiscriminate dumping of discarded electrical appliances from foreign countries at the site.
In a 2011 report, "Ghana E-Waste Country Assessment" found that of 215,000 tons of electronics imported to Ghana, 30% were brand new and 70% were used.
Of the used imported product the study further established that 15% was not reused and was scrapped or discarded.
The EPA is also collaborating with the Swedish Embassy to train scores of young men working at the electronic dump site to find a hygienic way of extracting cables from used electronic gadgets instead of burning them.
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