By Joyce Gyekye
Opinion leaders, health officials and key decision-makers have met in Accra to develop bye-laws to curb pollution from Used Acid Lead Batteries, ULABs in parts of the Greater Accra region, known as ULAB hotspots.
The meeting involving District Directors of Health Services from Kpone-Katamanso, Shia Osudoku and Afienya follows alarming findings from a 2023/2024 study by Pure Earth.
The report revealed that more than half of children aged one to five involved in study in the districts have blood lead levels above the WHO recommended limits.
The Community lead policy dialogue on bye-laws on Used Lead Acid Batteries (ULABs), which are mostly car batteries was attended by participants including the Chief of Shia, Simpim Afedi Katamanso Oyilagbeye, officials from Kpone-Katamanso, Shai Osudoku and Afienya, representatives their Municipal Assemblies and policy makers from the Environmental Protection Authority, EPA and Ghana Health Service.
The participants deliberated on the title and scope of the bye-law, offences and penalties with the legalities to be followed later.
The Pure Earth study found that 1,725 children out of 3,227 across three ecological zones, Accra, Ashanti and northern regions had blood lead levels, BLLs exceeding the recommended level by the World Health Organization, though no level is safe.
The Regional Program Director of Pure Earth, Africa, Rev. Esmond Quansah said lead is the single most damaging chemical to human health, with an estimated one billion children affected by it globally.
“The impact of lead exposure is devastating and irreversible, affecting cognitive development, reducing educational attainments and limiting future earning,” he added.
He mentioned that lead also contributes to poor maternal and newborn outcomes and “Raises the risk of cardiovascular diseases and premature death, utting short 3-point-5 million lives annually”.
The Municipal Director of Health for Ningo Prampram, Patience Ami Mamattah explained that though education and training programs have been rolled out in the communities after the study, that is not enough.
She noted that behavourial change is never an event adding that “at times it’s about letting the individual know the dangers that the person is exposed to, as well as having what we call the cues to action.
Madam Patience Mamattah welcomed a bye-law for all MMDAs as one of the key ways to ensuring that the population’s health is improved. Licenses and Permits allowing companies to operate ULAB recycling facilities are given by the Environmental Protection Authority.
The Director of Ghana National Cleaner Production Center of the EPA, Leticia Nyaaba said her center provides technical support, training and guidance to both formal and informal battery recyclers, helping them adopt safe and environmentally sound practices with the Authority enforcing compliance. She mentioned remediation work at lead contaminated sites at Bremang in the Ashanti region through the support of Pure Earth.
