Kabwe town - The most toxic place in the world

It is the mining and metallurgy over the past decade that turns Kabwe town into the most toxic place in the world.

Air pollution is one of the most worrisome issues today. With the emergence of more and more high-rise buildings, industrial parks or vehicles, it has become more serious than ever.

When asked, which city is the most dangerous in the world? How will you answer? You think it is Beijing by the dense smoke, garbage overflowing? But no, Kabwe , Zambia town - in Central Africa is the most "toxic" place in the world.

This is a disastrous result after a decade of mining and metallurgy in this area.

Poverty makes people here have no other options

According to environmental experts, Kabwe is the most heavily contaminated town in the world. Toxic lead seriously affects the brain and other organs of many generations of children here. The sad thing is that this situation is still going on every day.

The lead concentration in Kabwe is 100 times higher than the safe level.

Many new dangers emerge when some extreme poor people are constantly digging in huge rubble, called Black Mountain.

On the Black Mountain, men with ragged clothes, bare feet dug lead from large slag piles in long tunnels and without any protective equipment. They dig with hand tools and light only with candles.

Illegal miners are digging at the Black Mountain despite the very high risk of exposure to lead.

In other areas of the landfill, outside a long wind wall, covered by signs "Stay away from this dangerous area!", People sat in dusty caves to sell materials. build.

Provost Musonda, father of three children earns 80 kwacha / day (about 8.5 USD / day). However, chest pain made him unable to continue working.'If I can find another job, I will go but I have no way to maintain my life.'

Women and children chop small stones for sale in lead-exposed areas near previous mining areas.

At another point, the young girl named Debola Kunda was working hard with the help of her two children. The dust and smoke burned with the sparkling metallic light of galena - pure lead sulfide and soil right next to her 4-year-old child, Acili had a lead concentration of 37,900 ppm - 100 times more dangerous.

She is concerned about the children's health. They are not tested for blood to see if they are exposed to lead.'But what can children do when no one takes care of them? How will they eat if they're at home? ".

. and the harsh truth about the "toxic" here

Professor Jack Caravanos, an environmental health expert at New York University, said: "Among the world's 20 most serious polluted places for exposure to lead, mercury and chromium, Kabwe city is the most worrisome place, thousands of people in other regions are also suffering from "pollution" from pollution here.

Smoke from the giant metallurgical plant (closed in 1994) covered a particularly high concentration of lead dust on the surrounding land.

Caravanos uses a manual detector to measure lead levels on Black Mountain. Measured here is as high as alarming, from 30,000 to 60,000 ppm.

This is a powerful poison that damages nerves and can cause serious harm to children.

A recent study revealed that all 246 children randomly tested here had blood lead levels above 45 micrograms / milliliter of blood, higher than the safe limit of 5 micrograms / milliliter of blood.

Children playing on the lid of soft drinks on the contaminated soil in Kabwe town.

This leads to brain, liver, and hearing damage. 8 children had lead concentrations above 150 micrograms / blood serum, at this level, the risk of death is very likely to occur.

Children and newborns who begin to play often put their hands in their mouths will be the most poisoned.

Although adults are more aware of baby hand washing, lead remains in infected people until the end of their lives.

Caravanos said: the harmful effects of lead are very dangerous, they can cause brain damage, paralysis for infected people and eventually death.

The moves to help Kabwe escape this dangerous situation

How toxic lead is, but we need to appreciate the serious consequences of this compound as well as offer a solution to help Kabwe.

First, it is necessary to perform tests to know exactly the amount of lead in each person, especially children, to get treatment options.

Actively clean the air to protect the health of our children, our future leaders.

Along with that, metallurgical furnaces, lead-contaminated soil should be removed. In 2015, thanks to the sponsorship of Terre des Hommes (Germany) - the Environmental Organization of Africa and the Clean Earth mobilized the community to replace lead-contaminated soil with clean soil at 120 houses.

Children exposed to lead are usually not as agile as other normal children.

"This is just a drop in the ocean, but we feel happy that we have solved the most heavily exposed houses," said Namo Chuma, director of the African Environment Organization in Zambia.

Paul Mukula, Director of the Community Health Center at Kabwe Municipal Council said: ' The government is very concerned about people's health. A 16 million kwacha fund (about US $ 1.7 million) will be devoted to cleaning up pollutants in Kabwe, providing drug treatment and congested canal repair. "

Caravanos, senior scientific advisor to Pure Earth, said the solution to poisoning in Kabwe is clear: 'We have knowledge - we have to get children out of the exposure area. In the future, Kabwe may not completely clean lead but that town may be a safe place and the lead concentration here is controlled within the allowable range. "