Kabwe, the second largest city in Zambia with a population of 300,000, is located about 130km north of the nation's capital, Lusaka. It is one of six towns situated around the Copperbelt, once Zambia's thriving industrial base. In 1902, rich deposits of potentially dangerous lead were discovered in the mine and smelter located in the center of the town. Ore veins with lead concentrations as high as 20 percent have been mined deep into the earth and a smelting operation was set up to process the ore. Mining and smelting operations were running almost continuously up until 1994 without the government addressing the potential danger of lead. The mine and smelter, owned by the now privatized Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines, is no longer operating but has left a city with poison and toxicity from hazardous concentrations of lead in the soil and water.

During the operation there were no pollution laws regulating emissions from the mine and smelter plant. In turn, air, soil, and vegetation were all subjected to contamination, and ultimately, over some decades, millions of human lives were also affected. Some recent findings reveal the extent to which lead--one of the most potent neurotoxins known to man--has effected the health of Kabwe citizens. In the U.S., normal blood levels of lead are less than 10 ug/dL (micrograms per deciliter). Symptoms of acute poisoning occur at blood levels of 20 and above, resulting in vomiting, diarrhea, and leading to muscle spasms and kidney damage. Levels of over ten are considered unhealthy and levels in excess of 120 can often lead to death. In Kabwe, blood concentrations of 300 ug/dL have been recorded in children and records show average blood levels of children range between 60 and 120 ug/dL.

Children that play in the soil and young men that scavenge the mines for scraps of metal are most susceptible to lead produced by the mine and smelter. A small waterway runs from the mine to the center of town and had been used to carry waste from the once active smelter. For years there were no restrictions on the waterway, and in some instances local children use it for bathing. In addition to water exposure, workers are frequently exposed to lead by inhaling the dust that accumulated in their own backyards.

The Rudnaya River Valley region has observed a high rate of cancer as well as chronic and acute illnesses due to the use of outdated mining technology and metal smelting. The district capital Dalnegorsk is contaminated with boron, sulfur, and heavy metals including lead, cadmium, and zinc. The second biggest town in the valley is Rudnaya Pristan, which translates into “mining port� and is built around the lead smelter and the seaport, is one of the most lead contaminated sites in Russia. The town has the highest rate of respiratory diseases in the region and other illnesses including neurological damage. Children there continued to have a higher blood lead levels even after the intervention began. For almost a century, lead and zinc ore produced in the local mines is processed at the refining factory in Dalnegorsk. The lead and zinc concentrate were transported in open cars to Rudnaya Pristan for smelting up until 2006. Lead and cadmium, the most potent toxins in the region, damage human health through inhalation of lead dust, playing with contaminated soil, eating produce grown on contaminated lands, and air pollution. These toxins inhibit the functioning and development of the nervous system and are particularly harmful to children, leading to permanent learning and behavior disorders. Common symptoms of lead poisoning include abdominal pain, headache, anemia, irritability, and in severe cases seizures, coma, and death.

Since 1922, adults and children in La Oroya, Peru - a mining town in the Peruvian Andes and the site of a poly-metallic smelter - have been exposed to the toxic emissions and wastes from the plant. Peru's Clean Air Act cites La Oroya in a list of Peruvian towns suffering from critical levels of air pollution, but action to clean up and curtail this pollution. Currently owned by the Missouri-based Doe Run Corporation, the plant has been largely responsible for the dangerously high lead levels found in children's blood. Activities are now underway to curtail emissions and clean up legacy residual contamination. Ninety-nine percent of children living in and around La Oroya have blood lead levels that exceed acceptable limits, according to studies carried out by the Director General of Environmental Health in Peru in 1999. Lead poisoning is known to be particularly harmful to the mental development of children. A survey conducted by the Peruvian Ministry of Health in 1999 revealed blood lead levels among local children to be dangerously high, averaging 33.6 �g/dL for children between the ages of 6 months to ten years, triple the WHO limit of 10 �g/dL. Neurologists at local hospitals state that even newborn children have high blood lead levels, inherited while still in the womb. Sulfur dioxide concentrations also exceed the World Health Organization guidelines. Soil contamination is now being studied and a plan for clean up is in progress. Numerous studies have been carried out to assess the levels and sources of lead and other metals still being deposited in La Oroya. Limited testing has revealed lead, arsenic and cadmium soil contamination throughout the town. A detailed public health program has been implemented at the neighborhood level, focusing on children's health including bi-annual blood testing of all children. This has been operational for several years.