This project is part of the Lead Poisoning and Car Batteries Project. Full project details are available at www.blacksmithinstitute.org/haina.html

Community education campaigns implemented over a number of years likely resulted in a significant decrease in blood lead levels. However, the most drastic decreases resulted from environmental remediation. Following cleanup, blood lead levels have now likely decreased to acceptable levels. See more details about Haina under SUCCCESS STORIES: http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org/success_stories/display/20

ANAM (Panama’s Ministry of the Environment) reports that PAMETSA, a secondary smelter located in Panama City, processes spent lead-acid batteries, recovers plastic casings and smelts recovered lead into ingots. The PAMETSA site is located in a suburban area surrounded by domestic dwellings. The site is roughly 2.6 acres (a little over 1 ha) in area. There is a buffer of trees between the smelter buildings and the community of interest. The community is especially concerned about exposure to their children to lead contamination as a result of emissions from the PAMETSA site. Blacksmith investigators made an initial investigation in January 2008. A site assessment was conducted to collect information and soil samples for lead analysis. Dust wipes in five homes were taken. Soil lead concentration levels as high as 65,000 ppm Pb (parts of lead (Pb) per million) were reported. There is no information about the fate of acid reclaimed from the batteries. As many as 10,000 people may be at risk of lead exposure in communities surrounding PAMETSA. Lead poisoning causes central nervous system damage and impairs neurological development especially in children. The investigators recommended additional sampling in the community and provided equipment to do so. A memorandum of understanding was developed with the parties involved.

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.