Sunday, May 31, 2020

Dyeing Bazin at the Niger in Mali


A couple of years ago, I could see woman dyeing fabrics at Badalabougou in Mali. Badalabougou is part of the capital of Mali, Bamako, and lies opposite of the central district across the river Niger. The work is done by women in the form of small enterprises. The dyes are often synthetic. And might be toxic


„Traces of chromium, vanadium, iron, aluminium and silicon were also detected in some of the dyestuffs. Mixed effluents from two sampling sites contained concentrations of zinc and nickel higher than WHO guideline values for drinking water.“ Says Hanna Larsson in her thesis „Textile dyeing in Mali - possibilities for small scale effluent treatment“ [4]. The Niger is an important source of drinking water, water for agriculture, wild life in an arid country. So toxic waste is an issue. Hanna Larsson: „To find a working solution to decrease water pollution, without threatening the livelihood for dyers, co-operation between universities, dyers and governmental bodies is crucial.“


The dyed fabrics are called bazin. The dyeing women develop respiratory illnesses because of the sulfur in the dyes, which is used to fix the color on the fabric. The frabic is pounded on the water surface and so dye will go into the river, but also leftover dye is cast into the Niger. „The government’s environmental agency has had little success in dealing with the environmental impact of hand-dyeing.“ [2]


Pictures were taken near the Egyptian Embassy. In one picture you can see the Bank of West Africa building, which dominated the skyline of Bamako 12 years ago.



Links and References:
[1] Hanna Larsson: „Textile dyeing in Mali - possibilities for small scale effluent treatment“; 2009:02 Uppsala. https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/594/1/larsson_h_091105.pdf


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