An appraisal of the handler awareness of electrical and electronic equipment toxicity in Nigeria

Abstract

Some developing countries in Africa are waking up to the broadband race by providing public access to information communications technologies (ICTs) to instigate social and economic development and to narrow the digital divide. One of such countries is Nigeria, which ranked 60th in 2006 in e-readiness report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Consequently, the market, marketers and repairers of electrical electronic equipment (EEE) are growing geometrically in Nigeria. Incorporated in EEE are about 46 separate chemical substances or elements, some of which are hazardous. Their emission from EEE translates to toxicity through inhalation of the polluted air, especially by marketers and repairers. Becoming aware of this danger is key to exercising the necessary caution in handling EEE. This study assessed the awareness of marketers and repairers of EEE toxicity and adoption of safety measures against the same. Questionnaires were administered on 80 purposively selected marketers in Alaba International Market, Lagos and on 20 repairers in C-to-C Plaza, Enugu. Data were analysed using average mean score technique. Results show that all participants were completely ignorant of the toxicity associated with EEE and did not associate it with various symptoms of ill-health.The study recommends education programmes for marketers and repairers of EEE and developing policies on how to handle EEE. Key