MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
WHO sponsored research helps identify heavy lead contaminated areas in Peru
Countries – especially those with a long mining history -- can substantially reduce lead poisoning in children by mapping contamination levels in the soil to identify high-risk areas and by taking measures to keep children away from those areas, according to a study published this month in the public health journal, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesI remember being a part of the campaign in the UK to get lead removed from petrol. Ralph Nader's era.
Dec 06th, 2012 - 03:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It's not so much that people 'eat' the contaminated soil, they eat veg. that has been grown in it.
Chelating agents such as EDTA are good - they 'grab' the heavy metals in the gut;
I remember when I was young, we used Kaolin & Morphine for stomach ailments - the kaolin (clay) additionally bound the heavy metals which then passed through the body rather than becoming retained as poisons within. The morphine is now a Banned Substance for over-the-counter sales.
The mapping of contaminated land is one thing; the removal of human activity from such land is altogether another thing!
Decontamination is horrendously expensive.
Slums/favelas develop unchecked on contaminated land unless there is profoundly good local, regional and national governance.
This cries out for joined-up-government-thinking.
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