An extensive open-air pepper market operating unlawfully along a heavily trafficked corridor behind Accra Technical University (ATU) in Tudu is placing students, traders, and passers-by at risk of serious respiratory, eye, and food-related illnesses.

Public health officials have expressed concern that the uncontrolled sale, processing, and handling of pepper have transformed the walkway into a hazardous zone, endangering public safety and calling for swift action from authorities.

In addition to the thick pepper particles and irritating fumes that fill the air, environmental monitoring has confirmed the danger. According to health officials, air-quality sensors installed within the Tudu area repeatedly show elevated pollution levels associated with the illegal market activities.

Director of Metro Public Health at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Ing. Florence Kuukyi, expressed her concern to MyJoyOnline in an interview.

“We have one of our air sensors mounted around Tudu, and because of that activity going on, we always have high levels of reading,” she disclosed, noting that the enclave is a major transit zone with international traffic.

She said the situation significantly undermines efforts to improve and regulate air quality in the city.

"This is not comforting,” she said.

“As an assembly that is working so much on air quality, that place is a burden. It is a burden on the environment, a burden on public health, and something that must not be allowed to continue the way it is.”

Ing. Kuukyi cautioned that the way pepper is currently handled puts the public at risk beyond mere inconvenience.

The constant release of organic dust, spores, and tiny particles into a busy pedestrian area increases the likelihood of respiratory problems and eye injuries, especially for vulnerable groups like students and traders.

From early morning, sacks of dried pepper are torn open along the narrow lane behind ATU.

The pepper is dumped onto the bare ground, sorted, and packaged in the open air, sending fine dust that drifts into nearby shops, hostels, and lecture halls. What should be a simple walkway has turned into a daily hazard for hundreds of people.

“I pass through the pepper-selling area almost every school day,” said Hubaida, a student at ATU. “Most times when I pass there, I experience irritation from the pepper dust. I’m often coughing, sneezing, having watery eyes, and finding difficulty in breathing because of the strong smell.”

She recounted how quickly exposure can escalate.

"There was a time I passed through the area while pepper was being poured, and the dust was very intense. I started coughing continuously, my eyes became watery, and I had to stop for a while to recover before I could continue walking."

Health authorities emphasize that these symptoms are not accidental. Medical research featured in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine points to capsaicin—the compound that gives pepper its heat—as a strong irritant to the respiratory system.

Frequent inhalation may cause airway inflammation, persistent coughing, and heightened bronchial sensitivity, especially in individuals with asthma or pre-existing lung conditions.

Peter, an ATU degree student, described a frightening encounter: “That’s my usual route because it’s shorter to the station. One time, the wind carried the dust particles and pepper into my eyes. I thought I was going blind. I couldn’t see for two days. Yes, I’m not lying.”

He added that the effects extend beyond personal discomfort.

“When the wind blows everything together and comes to your class, oh my God… even the lecturer has to stop teaching for some time.” He also raised safety concerns about the shared space. “You don’t know whether it’s a road for cars, for human beings to sell, or for human beings to walk.”

For shop owners trapped along the lane, the impact is environmental and deeply personal. Victory Top Photos, who operates a photo and gadget shop near the pepper sellers, described the last few years as unbearable.

“There’s no day you won’t cough or sneeze; you must carry inhalers every day because we’re always catching a cold,” he said. “Sometimes it’s even worse when the pepper enters your eyes; you wash several times, but your eyes still hurt badly. We’re really suffering.”

He traced the traders’ presence to a cycle of failed relocations.

“These people were by the roadside, and when they were sacked by the Assembly… a certain man came to promise to give them a new location to continue their trade. After he made it a hostel, he moved the pepper sellers there… they were sacked from that place also, and now they have settled along the path in front of ATU’s back gate wall and have remained there.”

Despite repeated complaints, enforcement has stalled.

"We have complained several times but to no avail… We even took them to Adjabeng… we paid money to them to move them, but the sellers went to pay more, and that was it; they never moved them,” he said.

"These municipal assembly members are always getting money from the traders, so they’re not ready to sack them.”

Across the lane, Jamal, a provisions vendor located opposite the pepper sellers, described the area as deteriorating into filth. “You see the water passing in front of my shop; it’s from the rotten pepper,” he said.

“When they close, they don’t sweep; they leave the rotten ones on the bare ground like that. These people don’t care about our health. We always leave here sick.”

ATU officials have reportedly set up a committee to coordinate with relevant agencies and address the situation, including steps to protect the health of students and staff.

Interestingly, the same produce polluting the air is often praised for its health advantages.

Pepper (Capsicum) contains high levels of vitamin C, vitamin A, B6, folate, and potassium. Yet, in Tudu, improper handling has turned this otherwise healthy food into a harmful hazard.

“When you are selling pepper in the open, it has a health implication,” Director Kuukyi said.

"We have something called aflatoxin contamination because pepper can easily get rotten. And when it starts, we see fungi growing in them… Flies go to perch on human excreta and come to perch on the pepper… they leave what we call salmonella."

"If you don’t have wholesome food products, you end up preparing food that is not wholesome. And when you consume unwholesome food, we all know what happens. Food safety is everyone’s business… About 89% of city dwellers patronise street food. If food products are sold in an unhygienic environment, it has an impact on health.”

She explained that jurisdictional confusion has compounded the problem.

"That place is not for AMA; it’s for Korley Klottey,” she said, referencing the municipal split of 2018. She stressed that interim measures include hygiene education, medical screening, hand-washing enforcement, and encouraging mask use.

Future plans include moving traders into organized market spaces, including upcoming 24-hour economy markets designed after Makola, Agbogbloshie, and CMB.