ACCRA, GHANA - AUG 2008 - Month after month, new models of cell phones, laptops, DVD players and flat-screen televisions flood the markets faster than consumers can buy them, every new model holding greater promises than its predecessor. But what happens to all the fancy gadgets when they become outdated, too slow, or simply damaged beyond repair?

Every year, tons of used electronics from North America, Europe and other industrialized parts of the world end up in countries like Ghana.  This is where televisions, computer monitors and VCRs come to die.

Largely the business of boys and young men, electronics are torn apart, their plastic shells discarded or used as stools or buckets. The guts of computers hold copper, aluminum and other metals that can be sold for money. A kilogram of copper sells for about $4 - over half of Ghanaians live on less than $2 a day.

Electrical wires and cables are some the main components holding the precious copper. To separate the metal from its plastic or rubber enclosure, fire is the fastest solution. Boys set ablaze the plastic casings of computers, sometimes throw in Styrofoam from old refrigerators to increase the intensity of the flames. They then throw in the wires or other components to burn off the plastic. The fire spews a thick, black smoke, releasing not only toxic fumes but chemicals that seep into the ground, meters away from the basic homes of Agbogboloshie, one of Accra’s poorest neighbourhoods.

According to a Greenpeace study, some of the chemicals released during the burning process can affect children’s developing reproductive systems, brain development and the nervous system. Ground samples collected from the area were found to contain toxic metals, such as lead, in quantities exceeding one hundred times background levels. Other chemicals such as phthalates - some of which are known to interfere with sexual reproduction - and chlorinated dioxins - known to promote cancer – were also found in some of the samples.