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Health workers excavate contaminated soil with heavy amounts lead at Dareta village, Anka district in Zamfara State on June 10, 2010. Human Rights Watch on Tuesday said there have been 400 deaths due to lead poisoning. (Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images)
Northern Nigeria is grappling with a lead poisoning crisis of epic proportions, with thousands of children affected and in need of medical treatment, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
In the epidemic, dubbed the “worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history,” at least 400 children have died due to lead poisoning and a number of villages remain contaminated after the crisis began two years ago, the New York-based rights group says.
The poisoning is caused by illegal gold mining in northern Zamfara State, where the soil is rich in lead. Child laborers are exposed to lead dust when they process ore in mines or when the ore is crushed at home. The deadly lead is also found in the local drinking water and food supply.
Human Rights Watch urged the Nigerian government and the state government to work to cleanup the affected villages.
Amina Murtala, a 20-year-old who lives in the village of Bagega that is affected by the poisoning crisis, said that out of six children, she has lost three to lead poisoning. “Each time one died, I was so distraught and I was very traumatized,” she said in an interview with the rights group, according to an interpreter. She said seven other children in the building where she lives also died due to lead poisoning.
“In this compound in which I was born,” she added, referring to her home, “the problem is everywhere.” At Amina’s home, the lead levels were at 23,000 parts per million, which is 57 times greater than internationally recognized safe levels, Human Rights Watch said in the video. The video also showed her baby playing around with the dirt on the floor in the building.
Currently, there are still 1,500 children who are exposed to toxic lead levels and are in need of treatment, the rights group added.
“Zamfara’s gold brought hope for prosperity, but resulted in death and backbreaking labor for its children,” stated Babatunde Olugboji, a program director with Human Rights Watch. “People living in Zamfara State should not have to trade their lives, or their children’s lives, for the chance to mine gold and make a living.”
The state’s informal mining industry employs child laborers as young as 8 years old, with many being sent down into mines to process the ore with mercury. The labor is classified as among the worst forms of child labor under international law, the rights group added.
Human Rights Watch said that governments need to educate people about the risks of lead poisoning, instate safer gold mining practices, and end child labor.
Lead poisoning can severely affect mental and physical development in children, particularly in those under 6. Large doses are fatal. In adults, it can induce miscarriages or lower sperm counts, and produce other symptoms such as memory loss, abdominal pain, mood swings, weakness, and numbness of the extremities.