Vietnam, Dong Mai: $20 per person ends dangerous lead poisoning of an entire village
At one time the people of Dong Mai were artisans, but in recent decades they turned to battery recycling and small-scale lead smelting to survive. Dong Mai’s 2,600 villagers paid a heavy price for this toxic work with high levels of respiratory diseases, and mental illness in the community. Thanks to a technical collaboration and a targeted clean up, the situation is rapidly beginning to turn around. Levels of lead in the villagers have dropped by 30% for an investment of just $20 a person.
