Burning Matters

This book explores the complex cultural, economic, and environmental health politics of electronic waste (e-waste) in Ghana. Global trade in e-waste has led to various global e-waste management challenges, and many regions of the Global South, like Ghana, have suffered the consequences. Based on ethnographic research, the book exposes the lived experience of Ghana’s e-waste workers as they navigate the health, social, and economic challenges of e-waste labor, especially e-waste workers burning electrical wires to extract copper, a valuable and ubiquitous tech metal. With a particular focus on e-waste workers working in an urban scrap metal market known as Agbogbloshie, the book examines the ways in which this labor practice has raised concerns about toxic exposures and urban environmental contamination and has drawn the attention of international organizations seeking to find “green” solutions to severe environmental and health risks posed by e-waste burning. Addressing the practices and risks of e-waste burning and the politics and optimism of environmental health interventions, the book explores the theoretical import of the “pyropolitical ecology of e-waste,” an approach developed to augment and synthesize the emerging anthropology and political ecology of e-waste ruination, environmental justice, and uncertainty in the Global South.

“We Are All North Here”

This chapter explores e-waste burning work through the lens of labor migration, city–hinterland connections, and chieftaincy relations and politics. In particular, the chapter focuses on the story of one worker’s lived experience as a migrant e-waste laborer, husband, father, drummer, and member of a dominant regional chiefdom in northern Ghana. The chapter highlights how this worker and other e-waste workers navigate urban labor and marginalization in Accra, while at the same time sustaining social ties in northern Ghana where Dagomba chiefdoms hold local and regional political power. The chapter shows how narratives of migration and rural–urban livelihood can expose the integral role of social mobility and movement in e-waste ethnography in Ghana more generally.

Estimating backyard waste burning emission: A case study of Tembalang Campus, Diponegoro University

This study analyzes the distribution and amount of CO, CO2, HC, and NOx gas emissions resulting from the open burning of backyard waste in Diponegoro University. The burned waste sample is taken from surrounding environment of Diponegoro University (Tembalang Campus) by taking 4 random samples (3 kg each). Emissions from CO, CO2, HC, and NOx gases were obtained from the 24 minutes combustion test. Furthermore, the gaseous pollutant emitted is measured using a gas analyzer. The burned waste comprised 73.77% of organic waste, 17.45% of plastic; 4.33% of paper; and 4.45% of other waste. The emission test results show that the highest CO, CO2, HC, and NOx emissions have occurred at 14, 20, 18, and 18 minutes, respectively. The combustion test reveals that an enormous amount of CO, CO2, HC, and NOx gas is emitted during uncontrolled waste burning. Because backyard wastes burning produce significant gaseous pollutants, several efforts are needed to reduce this practice.

Determining the PM10 and PM2.5 Concentrations in Prayagraj City due to Solid Waste Burning using AERMOD

Open burning of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a poorly-characterized and frequently-underestimated source of air pollution in developing countries. This paper estimates the air pollution happening from MSW burning in municipality areas of the Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. Air quality models (AQMs) are critical components for urban air quality management because they can predict and forecast air pollutant concentrations. Advanced AQM, such as AERMOD, has a well-established application in the developed world provided sufficient input data is available. However, in poor countries, it is limited due to a lack of adequate and trustworthy data. The present study is focused to assess the urban air quality due to municipal solid waste burning around a Sangam city Prayagraj in India using dispersion modelling. Keywords: PM10, PM2.5, Air Quality Modelling, AERMOD

Seasonal analysis of submicron aerosol in Old Delhi using high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometry: chemical characterisation, source apportionment and new marker identification

We present the first real-time composition of submicron particulate matter (PM1) in Old Delhi using high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometry (HR-AMS). Old Delhi is one of the most polluted locations in the world, and PM1 concentrations reached ∼ 750 µg m−3 during the most polluted period, the post-monsoon period, where PM1 increased by 188 % over the pre-monsoon period. Sulfate contributes the largest inorganic PM1 mass fraction during the pre-monsoon (24 %) and monsoon (24 %) periods, with nitrate contributing most during the post-monsoon period (8 %). The organics dominate the mass fraction (54 %–68 %) throughout the three periods, and, using positive matrix factorisation (PMF) to perform source apportionment analysis of organic mass, two burning-related factors were found to contribute the most (35 %) to the post-monsoon increase. The first PMF factor, semi-volatility biomass burning organic aerosol (SVBBOA), shows a high correlation with Earth observation fire counts in surrounding states, which links its origin to crop residue burning. The second is a solid fuel OA (SFOA) factor with links to local open burning due to its high composition of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and novel AMS-measured marker species for polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). Two traffic factors were resolved: one hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA) factor and another nitrogen-rich HOA (NHOA) factor. The N compounds within NHOA were mainly nitrile species which have not previously been identified within AMS measurements. Their PAH composition suggests that NHOA is linked to diesel and HOA to compressed natural gas and petrol. These factors combined make the largest relative contribution to primary PM1 mass during the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods while contributing the second highest in the post-monsoon period. A cooking OA (COA) factor shows strong links to the secondary factor, semi-volatility oxygenated OA (SVOOA). Correlations with co-located volatile organic compound (VOC) measurements and AMS-measured organic nitrogen oxides (OrgNO) suggest SVOOA is formed from aged COA. It is also found that a significant increase in chloride concentrations (522 %) from pre-monsoon to post-monsoon correlates well with SVBBOA and SFOA, suggesting that crop residue burning and open waste burning are responsible. A reduction in traffic emissions would effectively reduce concentrations across most of the year. In order to reduce the post-monsoon peak, sources such as funeral pyres, solid waste burning and crop residue burning should be considered when developing new air quality policy.

Reviewing the Crop Residual Burning and Aerosol Variations during the COVID-19 Pandemic Hit Year 2020 over North India

The north Indian states of Haryana and Punjab are believed to be the key sources of air pollution in the National Capital Region due to massive agricultural waste burning in crop harvesting seasons. However, with the pandemic COVID-19 hitting the country, the usual practices were disrupted. COVID-19 preventive lockdown led to restricted vehicular and industrial emissions and caused the labours to leave the agricultural business in Haryana and Punjab. With the changed scenario of 2020, the present study investigates the variations in air quality over the Haryana and Punjab, and their relative impact on the air quality of Delhi. The work attempts to understand the change in agricultural waste burning during 2020 and its implication on the local air quality over both the states and the transported pollution on the national capital Delhi. The study utilises in-situ data for the year 2019–2020 with satellite observations of MODIS aqua/terra for fire counts, aerosol optical depth (AOD) and back-trajectories run by the hybrid single-particle Lagrangian integrated trajectory model (HYSPLIT).