When BCCC Africa gathered experts to seek better ways to manage POPs

 

E-waste continues to be an African problem,” remarked Professor Babajide Alo. He was speaking as chair at the Workshop on the Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in E-waste Recycling organised by the Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for the Africa Region (BCCC-Africa) in Lagos, recently.

Professor Alo added, “As we manage e-waste, POPs continue to be of concern. All recyclers have to deal with POPs as one of the exudates when recycling e-waste. BCCC-Africa wants to ensure that we continue to do it right in terms of Environmentally Sound Management (ESM).”

Opening the floor for further discussion, Professor Alo, an emeritus professor of Chemistry at the University of Lagos, said: “We want to leave here with knowledge, build capacity on how to do ESM on POPs. POPs are an inevitable byproduct. How do we handle them?”

Experts from the Federal Ministry of Environment, Lagos Ministry of Environment, relevant agencies of both ministries, private sector players and non-governmental organisations were present.

The workshop was organised as part of a pilot executed as a follow-up to the regional workshop on Management of POPs in Articles, held in Abuja in October 2023, in which about 13 African countries (Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe) participated. The pilot studied the management of e-waste in the recycling process at two formal e-waste recycling companies (Hinckley Recycling Ltd and E-Terra Technologies Ltd) in Lagos, with examination of how materials that may contain POPs are managed.

The results of this study were shared with stakeholders to elicit discussion on the feasibility and appropriateness of Basel Convention approved technologies for managing POPs in e-waste recyclates locally.

 

Digging in

Percy Onianwa, coordinator for BCCC-Africa, during his presentation said the workshop was meant to among other objectives appreciate the support of the two companies, identify gaps relative to local legislation and Basel/Stockholm convention guidelines; know what actions are possible in our local environment, how to improve compliance and possible recommendations.

The project is a July 2023 agreement between the BRS (Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions) Secretariat and BCCC-Africa.

Oluseun Badejo, Project Officer at BCCC-Africa, gave a presentation on “Basel & Stockholm Convention Guidelines for ESM of Wastes Consisting of, Containing or Contaminated with POPs,” in which he highlighted the prescribed methods to handle POPs according to the convention. “The guidance provided within the document is intended to serve as a stand-alone general guidance and also as what might be termed an umbrella” guide to be used in conjunction with other specific technical guidelines,” he noted.

Explaining their significance, Joshua Babayemi of the Environmental Management and Toxicology

University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, in his presentation at the workshop, stated that POPs are a group of toxic chemicals that are characterised by their persistence in the environment, ability to accumulate in living organisms, and long-range transport across ecosystems.

“These chemicals pose significant environmental and health risks due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity,” he added.

He said POPs can be classified based on various factors including: Chemical Structure, Source or Usage, Environmental Fate and Behaviour, or Toxicity.

Explaining the categorization of POPs based on toxicity, he stated that some POPs are endocrine disruptors.

“Some POPs, particularly certain pesticides, can interfere with hormone systems in animals and humans, causing reproductive and developmental issues.”

Under categorisation based on toxicity, some POPs are “Carcinogens.” These POPs such as dioxins are known to be carcinogenic that is they can cause cancer. The last type under this category are called “Neurotoxicants” which can cause damage to the nervous system in both humans and animals.

 

Effect on humans and environment

He further explained the environmental concerns about POPs. “POPs are resistant to degradation by natural processes. This means they can remain in the environment for years or even decades after their release. They persist in soil, water, and air, leading to long-lasting contamination of ecosystems.

“The persistence of these pollutants allows them to accumulate over time, affecting ecosystems, food chains, and human populations for extended periods.”

He added that “POPs accumulate in the tissues of organisms over time, a process known as bioaccumulation.

“Biomagnification occurs when the concentration of POPs increases as they move up the food chain. For example, small aquatic organisms that absorb POPs may be eaten by fish, and fish may then be consumed by birds or humans.”

Dr Babayemi explained the potential of POPs to affect human populations. According to him, while POPs primarily affect wildlife, they can also have serious health implications for humans. People living in contaminated areas or consuming contaminated food, such as fish and livestock, are at risk of developing serious health conditions, including cancer, developmental and neurological disorders, and immune system suppression.

He said that indigenous and local communities, especially those relying on subsistence fishing and farming, are often disproportionately affected by POP exposure due to their direct contact with contaminated natural resources.

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The environmental expert further explained how difficult it is to get rid of POPs from the environment. He stated that due to their persistence and mobility, cleaning up or mitigating the effects of POPs is challenging. “Remediation strategies such as soil excavation, chemical treatment, and bioremediation have been explored, but these methods are often expensive, technically difficult, and may not completely remove the pollutants.

“In some cases, POPs can continue to leach into the environment, requiring long-term monitoring and management strategies.

“Some POPs, like certain pesticides and industrial chemicals, are also potent greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change. For example, some chemicals used as refrigerants contribute to global warming and ozone layer depletion.”

He concluded saying that addressing these concerns requires international cooperation, stringent regulations, and active efforts to prevent, mitigate, and manage the release of POPs into the environment.

The challenge of POPs and its implications cannot be overemphasized,” Federal Controller of Environment, Federal Ministry of Environment in Lagos, Mrs Olabimpe Adenaike, said at the workshop.

She stated that with the gathering of stakeholders at the workshop to brainstorm on how to improve handling of POPs, “we are moving in the right direction.”

“POPs are deadly, so we have to find ways of taking them out of the environment. The Ministry is aware of POPs and has taken steps to eliminate them from the environment.”

Adenaike stated that the ministry had taken steps to eliminate POPs coming from PVC materials and transformer oil. “We have developed a toolkit on dealing with POPs especially furans and dioxins. If there is an area there ministry has worked extensively on, it is POPs.”

She added that dealing with POPs in Nigeria is governed by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which Nigeria is signatory to, and is thus handled by the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Nigeria signed the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) on May 23, 2001 and ratified it on May 24 and August 22, 2004.

In 1995, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) expanded its research and investigation on POPs with an initial focus on what became known as the “Dirty Dozen”.  These were a group of 12 highly persistent and toxic chemicals, namely: aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzen, mirex, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and toxaphen. Many of the pesticides in this group are no longer used for agricultural purposes but a few continue to be used in developing countries.