Women in the informal sector

According to WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing) “60 per cent or more of female nonagricultural workers in the developing world are informally employed. Among non-agricultural workers, in sub-Saharan Africa, 84 per cent of women workers are informally employed compared to 63 per cent of men workers; in Latin America, 58 per cent of women workers compared to 48 per cent of men; and in Asia, 73 per cent of women workers compared to 70 per cent of men workers.”58 These numbers include a wide range of occupations: inside and outside informal enterprises, self-employed, waste pickers, cleaners, domestic workers, street vendors etc. The chemical exposure to the different groups, which are summed up under this definition, varies accordingly. Highly exposed are women working in industry and mining related facilities as well as waste pickers and recyclers.

Waste pickers 
There are millions of waste pickers in the world. Very little is known about their exact numbers, as statistical data is difficult to collect. An Indian study estimated local waste pickers at 1.5 million, primarily women and those from socially marginalized groups.59 A study60 about solid waste management in Nigeria found that women and children play a very dominant role in collection and sale of recyclable materials to itinerant waste collectors. The results show that 55 per cent of recyclable materials are being sold by women and 40 per cent by children while only 5 per cent were men. A distinct gender division of labour was observed as women are almost conspicuously absent at the higher levels of solid waste recycling processes.

This is largely due to cultural constructs, poor coordination and lack of capital. Waste pickers are at health risk due to their proximity to pre-separated discards, which often include infectious and toxic materials and due to the hazardous conditions under which valuable recyclables and their components are physically retrieved. A three country study in India, Cambodia and the Philippines showed that the health costs of waste picking are very high. The waste pickers are exposed to a cocktail of toxic fumes and other chemicals in the dump and from open burning. “Waste pickers burn PVC coated wires in order to extract copper, which sells at a high price. They find that cutting it can result in sharp cuts on their fingers and hands. However, burning copper wires results in the production of dioxins, which are known to have some negative effects on reproduction, the immune system and may cause birth defects as well as cancers.”61 The National Solid Waste Management Commission on the Philippines noted that “risks come from direct contact with waste such as broken glass, human/faecal matters, materials with toxic substances, containers with residues from chemicals, pesticides, needles and bandages from hospitals/clinics and smoke and toxic fumes from open burning of waste”.62

Typical chemicals that waste pickers are exposed to are dioxins, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen oxide from waste burning, and chemicals contained in waste like PVCs, brominated flame retardants, lead and other endocrine disrupting chemicals. This may lead to asphyxiation, respiratory diseases including asthma, chronic liver and kidney diseases, brain injuries, cardiovascular and cancer related diseases. The health problems of waste pickers are severe and often lead to premature death. Waste pickers are among the poorest population. They have no money for health care and medical treatment. They also suffer from poor general health, since a high proportion work and live on the dumpsite all their lives. Therefore even easily treatable diseases can have severe effects.

Female waste pickers are often the sole earners in the family, so they are dependent on their work. To avoid exposure of waste pickers, a holistic approach is needed: implementation of cradle to cradle and zero-waste policies, mandatory labelling and phase out of toxic substances, development of a social protection floor for women and other measures including better employment options for those that currently make their living this way. Organisations like GAIA, WIEGO and Global Alliance of Waste Pickers63 developed policy recommendations like e.g. the inclusion of waste pickers in participatory planning of solid waste management, and organize implementation projects, also in collaboration with UN agencies and national governments

Artisanal Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) 
The lessons from the Minamata tragedy and the Minamata disease show the negative impact of mercury exposure to people and the environment. Especially for women and children, they  are irreversible and last for generations. UNEP has identified ASGM sector as the single largest source of mercury emissions from intentional use, which has no global target reduction (emissions and use) under the treaty. The target for mercury elimination will depend on a country‘s policy and implementation plans. Women in Africa represent approximately 40-50 per cent of the ASGM workforce and children under the age of 18 may constitute up to 30-50 per cent of the entire ASGM workforce.65 While women represent lower fractions of the workforce in Latin America (10-20 per cent) and Asia (about 10 per cent), it is clear that mercury exposure from ASGM has a profound global impact on women. In many ASGM areas, women perform the most toxic jobs since they do not require strength. These jobs include pouring the mercury into the ball-mills or mixing the mercury in panning, and burning the amalgam – usually while their children or babies are nearby. In some countries, women also carry the rocks from the mining sites to the processing plants.66


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