Unprecedented lead poisoning from Nigerian gold mining

Enviromine

MORE than 160 people, including at least 100 children, have died from lead poisoning from artisanal gold mining in Nigeria’s northwest Zamfara State.

Publishing Date: 07 Jul 2010 4:11pm GMT
Author: Mining, People and the Environment

Health and Safety Pollution & Waste management

More than 160 people, including at least 100 children, have died from lead poisoning from artisanal gold mining in Nigeria’s northwest Zamfara State.

The scale of the disaster has been labelled unprecedented by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was called in by the Nigerian health authorities to help stem the epidemic.

The poisoning, which was first discovered in March, has now spread to five villages in the region, affecting more than 300 people. Children have been found playing in soil contaminated with lead after villagers transported gold ore home from local, artisanal mines.

The fatality rate from the poisoning has been estimated at 46%, with children the most susceptible.

The Blacksmith Institute, an international non-government organisation, has been undertaking emergency clean-up work at the request of the Nigerian government, working with the World Health Organization, the CDC, Doctors Without Borders and local authorities.

The organisation said that of 133 children recently tested for lead toxicity, all but three had levels above the detection limits of the testing equipment (65§g/dl).

“Blacksmith is racing against time to clean the contaminated houses and other areas before the rainy season arrives in July, making roads to the villages impassable, and spreading the toxic lead, deepening the crisis,” said the group on its website.