More than 200 children are thought to have died in
Nigeria following massive lead contamination that has affected an
estimated 18,000 people because of illicit gold mining, the U.N. said
Tuesday.
Five experts equipped with a mobile laboratory have
arrived in the country to help health authorities pin down the extent
of the contamination and tackle it, the UN's Organisation for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
"From the
latest figures we have, more than 200 children reportedly died from
this poisoning," OCHA spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told
journalists as the U.N. body warned of "acute massive lead
poisoning."
Byrs told AFP that "an estimated 18,000
people were affected" in the villages around the gold mining
area in northern Zamfara state, around Bukkuyum and Anka.
"It's
a developing problem. Seven villages were affected but we don't know
the full extent," she added.
"Proper sampling from
the mobile laboratory is urgently needed to determine the scope and
magnitude of the crisis and to assist in developing a rigorous
response," according to an OCHA briefing note.
The
poisoning was triggered by makeshift processing of lead-rich ore to
extract gold, with crushed rock often taken into homes and
communities, while the residue is discarded haphazardly in the soil.
Nigerian health authorities first noticed excess mortality in
the area in March and brought in international help weeks later, but
the extent of the poisoning and contamination appears to have grown.
The OCHA said soil also appeared to be heavily contaminated
by mercury and copper, and was likely to need a massive clean up.
"The problem is that the rainy season will cause even
greater contamination," Byrs said.
In June the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was called in by
Nigeria to help, described the scope of the lead poisoning as
unprecedented.
Symptoms of lead poisoning normally build up
over long periods as the heavy metal accumulates in the human body,
producing abdominal pain, nervous disorders affecting growth and
ultimately leading to kidney failure.
Children are the most
vulnerable.