Posted on 06/17/2010 4:25:19 PM PDT by Cardhu
More than 160 children have died of lead poisoning in Nigeriain recent weeks, and more deaths are expected to follow.
The number has been rising since March, when rural residents started digging illegally for gold in areas with high concentrations of lead.
The victims were from several remote villages in the northern state of Zamfara.
Marcel Lagenbach, head of the Medecins Sans Frontieres emergency response team in Zamfara, told Al Jazeera there are six villages in the state that have been affected.
"Possibly there are some more villages that are contaminated, a lot of work remains to be done in terms of investigation, it is still a state of emergency," he said.
"People cannot be blamed for sustaining their families in such remote and poor villages. We cannot blame people for seeking an income in such areas."
(Excerpt) Read more at english.aljazeera.net ...
Wonder what the UN has to say about lovely China...not a peep, I’m sure.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200911170158.html
The problem is that these poor people are mining in an area that has long been abandoned as not being commercially viable.
In addition they seemed to have been crushing the rocks with a high level of lead in their own homes thus endangering themselves and their people. This does not approach the level of sophistication of multi national mining
The video explains the problem.
The problem is stupid parents equal dead kids. Typical third world trash.
I am curious where the lead is coming from. As a geologist, I know lead is not a common element found in gold deposits. Anyone know the site specific geology at this location in Nigeria?
I have no idea of the geology in that area. The report says the lead was found in the soil of the area but not necessarily in the ore. Of course press reports are often not that exact when it comes to technical reliability.
***”People cannot be blamed for sustaining their families in such remote and poor villages. We cannot blame people for seeking an income in such areas.”***
Well then! It MUST be G.W. Bush’s fault!
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