Ghana’s illegal mining (galamsey) crisis has escalated to an existential public health threat, with experts warning that a single exposure to the associated heavy metals, particularly arsenic, carries a measurable risk of cancer initiation.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, October 4, to discuss the spiralling health consequences of polluted food and water systems, Dr. Ekpor Anyimah-Ackah, a food systems toxicologist and health risk assessment expert at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), presented startling scientific data proving that there is effectively no safe dose of genotoxic agents leaching from galamsey sites.
The warning is based on the Single-Hit Model of Carcinogenesis, which provides the toxicological framework for the danger posed by contaminants like arsenic.
“Now the core principle is that a single molecular hit to DNA from a genotoxic agent can initiate cancer. A single exposure to and I’m using arsenic,” Dr. Anyimah-Ackah explained.
The Science of Risk: No Safe Threshold
This core principle means that every single exposure to arsenic—which galamsey operations leach into rivers, soils, and subsequently into the food chain—increases the probability of malignancy.
The chemical acts as a genotoxic initiator by inducing oxidative stress and causing strand breaks in DNA.
According to the model, this means the risk is proportional to the dose, confirming the Linear No-Threshold (LNT) model and asserting that no safe dose exists. The slightest exposure that escapes cellular repair can become a permanent mutation, paving the way for clonal expansion and tumour formation.
Shocking Data: Unacceptable Cancer Risk in Infants
Peace Afua Agbevivi and Guy Eshun from the Department of Food and Nutrition Education, Faculty of Health, Allied Sciences and Home Economics Education, University of Education, Winneba,
Ghana contributed to the research.
The research analysed arsenic exposure in a cohort of 427 infants aged 6–12 months. This cross-sectional exposure assessment was conducted in the Kadjebi District, Volta Region.
The findings revealed a dire and unacceptable health burden:
- Excessive Daily Intake: The Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) of arsenic by these infants was calculated at a mean of 0.10 ± 0.05 mg/kg/day. This level drastically exceeds the recommended WHO/EFSA safety limit of 0.0003 mg/kg/day.
- Unacceptable Hazard Quotient: The mean Hazard Quotient (HQ) was found to be 1.7 × 10³, confirming an unacceptable chronic risk as any value greater than 1 signifies danger.
- High Cancer Incidence: The Chronic Cancer Risk (CR) was measured at a mean of 0.16, also deemed unacceptable. The research projected a potential incidence rate of approximately 78 cases per 1000 infants exposed.
- Exposure Source: Vulnerability is increased by low body weight , poor water quality, and the reliance on certain foods, with commercial instant cereals being identified as a major exposure source in the study.
Policy Implications: Zero-Exposure Strategy
Dr. Anyimah-Ackah’s research reinforces the call for a drastic policy shift. Under the LNT model, the public health implication is clear: the national target must be zero exposure, not merely achieving a ‘safe limit’.
The continued contamination of water and food means that every Ghanaian is now facing a non-zero risk.
The data provides a strong scientific basis for calls, such as those made by A Rocha Ghana, Occupy Ghana, the Media Coalition Against Galamsey and other entities, for the government to declare a targeted State of Emergency to tackle the menace.
Occupy Ghana argues that the crisis already meets the constitutional threshold under Article 31(9) because the pollution is “likely to deprive the community of the essentials of life—water, food, [and] health”.
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