PMC:7194141 / 14338-17067
Annnotations
{"target":"http://pubannotation.org/docs/sourcedb/PMC/sourceid/7194141","sourcedb":"PMC","sourceid":"7194141","source_url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/7194141","text":"The first presenter in the workshop was Dr. Julius Fobil from the University of Ghana, one of the principal investigators of the Michigan-West Africa Global Environmental and Occupational Health ( GEOHealth) Hub. He described the environmental exposures associated with informal e-waste recycling practices in West Africa (particularly in Ghana at the Agbogbloshie dumpsite and a comparison site at Madina-Zongon, 10 km north). E-waste workers and neighboring communities are exposed to multiple toxic exposures related to recycling activities (such as open burning and manual dismantling) of electronics in a highly concentrated area 17. High levels of toxic metals (especially lead) and persistent organic pollutants have been found in air, water, soil, and food samples on and near e-waste sites that far exceed United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) thresholds of safe exposure. The GEOHealth Hub project goals include: characterization of specific exposures derived from electronic waste recycling activities, assessment of biological markers of dose of exposure, and evaluation of health outcomes (particularly respiratory, morbidity, and cancer risks but also cardiovascular and musculoskeletal outcomes) associated with these exposures. Biological samples (blood and urine) were used to measure metals and flame retardants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and other organic compounds, and ambient and personal air monitoring were used to measure air pollution. Interactions between occupational exposures and other environmental exposures were also assessed through a detailed questionnaire. While the hub’s activities aim broadly to develop new methods for assessing exposure in the informal sector in the hope of developing effective and efficient interventions that reduce the exposures, ongoing analyses have been expanded to include investigation of associations between exposures in the e-waste dismantling industry and biologic effects as measured by the following molecular biology platforms: i) gene-expression profiling of epithelial cells from the oral cavity and nasal turbinate; ii) metabolomic profiling of plasma; and iii) methylation profiling of blood DNA. Preliminary results have found exceptionally high PM2.5 exposures for e-waste workers using personal air monitoring filters. Discussions following this presentation focused on the complexities of impacting better e-waste worker protections and informing government and city policies to improve workers’ lives. The investigators hope to explore pilot interventions to reduce exposures at the Agbogbloshie site in Ghana and scale-up studies in other West Africa countries in the future.","tracks":[{"project":"2_test","denotations":[{"id":"32382703-24588034-29209","span":{"begin":635,"end":637},"obj":"24588034"}],"attributes":[{"subj":"32382703-24588034-29209","pred":"source","obj":"2_test"}]}],"config":{"attribute types":[{"pred":"source","value type":"selection","values":[{"id":"2_test","color":"#93d1ec","default":true}]}]}}