A forensic pathologist and director of the KNUST School of Medicine and Distillery, Dr. Paυl Ossei Saмpee, is concerned about the reported cases of newborn ƄeƄés with deformities in migratory communities.
He stressed that the strong coercion of metallic substances in the bodies of rivers is worrisome.
“We need to appreciate the fact that, cumulatively, if these patients get at least 0.005% of a heavy metal, and assuming the person stays there their whole life, you can imagine the kind of treatment they can get in a year or in a month, and that is what we have to consider. When you are permanently there, that is your place of residence and you consume everything that is produced there, you have water there and you eat food there, cumulatively it can affect your life. And we need to take action. If the future is not taken care of, we need to import food”.
Irresponsible small-scale migration activities in migrating communities could have adverse impacts on water sources and water resources and threaten the sustenance of humans in migration areas.
Newborn ƄeƄes with deformities and kidney failure, among others, are on the rise as a result of ingesting contaminated water and consuming food crops in mitigated areas, said the pathologist.“Based on my personal examinations of people who have died in certain areas, they seem to be telling me that there is a lot of heavy metal contamination in our food chain that has found its way into the human body.
“The gastrointestinal tract, which we call GIT according to our medical term, is one of the things that is affected when these heavy metals are consumed.
“I did a job looking for a place and looking at it, I think it’s alarming. Although I haven’t been able to do more of these things across the country, but I think if we allow him to cooperate, we will be in a position where, in the long run, we will have a lot of ƄeƄés with deformities.
“Fortunately, some of them have deformities that are not compatible with life, and therefore some simply die immediately after birth. But if you’re not careful and overʋiʋes, you may have someone with a terminal organic deformity”.
