From Hugo's statement on the project:
"The UN Environment Program has stated that Western countries produce around 50 million tons of digital waste every year. Much (of the waste) is piled in containers and shipped to developing countries, supposedly to reduce the digital divide, to create jobs and help people. In reality, the inhabitants of dumps like Agbogbloshie survive largely by burning the electronic devices to extract copper and other metals out of the plastic used in their manufacture. The electronic waste contaminates rivers and lagoons with consequences that are easily imaginable. In 2008 Green Peace took samples of the burnt soil in Agbogbloshie and found high concentrations of lead, mercury, thallium, hydrogen cyanide and PVC."
See and read more: http://www.pieterhugo.com/selected-work/permanent-error/permerror36.jpg/