Ecobreves – PERU: Lead Poisoning in El Callao

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

LIMA, Feb 16 2004 (IPS) - Four impoverished districts in the port city of El Callao have high levels of lead contamination, which the World Health Organizations considers one of the greatest urban environmental dangers, because it affects the neurological development of children. Peru is the fourth leading exporter of lead, and one of the countries most contaminated by this heavy metal. In some areas of El Callao, the level of lead in children's blood is four times the accepted maximum, which is 10 thousands of a gram per deciliter, according to the Ministry of Health.

The congressional Environmental Commission reported that not all companies that transport or store lead are taking the necessary precautions to prevent contamination.

Lawmaker Elvira de la Puente says the two companies that in 2003 adopted an “encapsulated” system for transporting lead have not kept their promise to eradicate the lead waste they caused before.