Inside Accra’s Mallam Market, traders breathe pollution twelve times higher than safe limits

By 7:30 a.m., Gladys Ahugah has already arranged her onions, ginger and garlic neatly on a wooden table under the scorching sun here at Accra’s biggest food market .

Behind her, a pepper grinding mill roars to life. Dust rises. Vehicles crawl past on the busy Mallam-Kasoa road, releasing exhaust fumes into the already thick air. 

For more than 15 years, this has been her routine. But recently, her body has begun to protest.

“I see changes in my health… when I breathe, you can hear my heartbeat. I cough too. The air here is not good,” says Ahugah, speaking in Twi.

Mallam Market is one of Accra’s largest trading hubs, drawing thousands of traders and shoppers daily. But it is also among the city’s most polluted environments. From dawn to dusk, traders work amid a mix of grinding mills, vehicle emissions, open waste burning and swirling dust. Smoke from cooking stoves drifts between stalls. Waste smoulders in corners. Few traders wear the nose masks that would protect them.

Markets like Mallam are among the dirtiest places in the city. Air quality tests at Mallam in December 2025 found that the average levels of the smallest and most dangerous particles, known as PM2.5, were well above the World Health Organisation’s safe limit. But the worst spikes were far higher. Near grinding mills and busy roadsides, pollution shot up to more than 12 times the WHO limit.

PM 2.5 are microscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream, increasing the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Prolonged exposure to levels this high are comparable to smoking one cigarette every day . At the spikes it is equivalent to nine cigarettes a day.

Most say they have little knowledge of the health risks, or how to protect themselves.

For Ahugah, 45, the impact is already visible. She now relies on cough mixtures and local remedies, including chewing fresh mango leaves, to ease persistent chest discomfort she believes is linked to the air she breathes.

Experts say what is happening at Mallam Market is not isolated.

“This just confirms why we say Accra is polluted, especially at our marketplaces. And this should be an issue of concern,” said Dr Caleb Mensah, head of the Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science at the University of Energy and Natural Resources. Grinding mills, open waste burning, heavy traffic and dust all contribute to elevated pollution levels. “People who are closer to these sources are more exposed… and this can have severe impacts on their health conditions”.

Accra’s rapid urbanisation, traffic congestion and poor waste management have contributed to worsening air quality. According to the Air Quality Life Index 2025 report, dirty air is the country’s sixth biggest external health threat, just behind malnutrition and HIV/AIDS and contributes to Ghana’s exploding rates of so-called noncommunicable diseases including heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, type 2 diabetes, dementia, depression, and premature birth.