Lead poisoning epidemics

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Automobile batteries being recycled at the Thiaroye-sur-Mer site where 18 children died of lead poisoning in 2008 Batteries at Thiaroye.jpg
Automobile batteries being recycled at the Thiaroye-sur-Mer site where 18 children died of lead poisoning in 2008

Lead poisoning epidemics refer to specific instances of mass lead poisoning. These events often occur without the knowledge of the communities they affect. Common causes of lead poisoning epidemics include mining, lead recycling, and food/water contamination. [1] These events also cause disproportionate childhood fatalities as children are more susceptible to lead poisoning than adults. [1] [2]

Contents

Notable poisoning events

This list does not include events wherein fewer than 100 people were affected, individual lead paint poisoning cases, or lead poisoning resulting from the consumption of contaminated food or water, such as the Flint water crisis. The cases below are discrete events of mass lead poisonings.

Large-scale lead poisoning events
Name of eventYearCountryCity# Tested high*# deathsSource of lead exposureCommentsRef.
Đông Mai2015VietnamĐông Mai1020Auto-battery recyclingOngoing[ as of? ] [3]
El Paso/Juarez1974USA/Mexico El Paso, Texas 3910Lead smelterPlant closed [4]
Fiengxiang 2009China Shaanxi 851+ [note 1] 0Lead smelter [5]
Hunan 2008China Hunan 1354+ [note 2] 0Manganese factory [6]
Jiyuan2009China Jiyuan 10000Lead smelter99.7% of children poisoned [7]
Doe Run 2004Peru La Oroya 100's0Lead smelterPlant closed [8]
Michoacán2009?Mexico Michoacán 3110Lead-glazed potteryOngoing[ as of? ] [9]
Santo Amaro1985Brazil Bahia 5550Lead smelter [10]
Thiaroye-sur-Mer2008Senegal Thiaroye, Dakar 150+18Auto-battery recyclingClosed [11]
Torreón2000Mexico Torreón 111810Lead smelter [12]
Zamfara 2010Nigeria Zamfara 1000+163–400Artisanal miningOngoing[ as of? ] [13]
Kabwe 2013Zambia Kabwe 1000+0Lead mining and smelter [14] [15]
Tianshui kindergarten 2025China Tianshui 247+ [note 3] 0Food (As reported by government) [16]


Notes

  1. ↑ The number only counts children. There were also adults affected, including employees.
  2. ↑ The number only counts children. There were also adults affected, including employees.
  3. ↑ The number only counts children. There were also adults affected, including employees.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Lead poisoning". World Health Organization. 11 August 2023.
  2. ↑ Abelsohn, Alan; Sanborn, Margaret (June 2010). "Lead and children: Clinical management for family physicians". Canadian Family Physician. 56 (6): 531–535. PMC   2902938 . PMID   20547517.
  3. ↑ Daniell, William E.; Tung, Lo Van; Wallace, Ryan M.; Havens, Deborah J.; Karr, Catherine J.; Diep, Nguyen Bich; Croteau, Gerry A.; Beaudet, Nancy J.; Bao, Nguyen Duy (2015-10-26). "Childhood Lead Exposure from Battery Recycling in Vietnam". BioMed Research International. 2015 193715. doi: 10.1155/2015/193715 . PMC   4637436 . PMID   26587532.
  4. ↑ Ordóñez, Blanca Raquel; Romero, Lidia Ruiz; Mora, Refugio (2003). "Investigación epidemiológica sobre niveles de plomo en la población infantil y en el medio ambiente domiciliario de Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, en relación con una fundición de El Paso, Texas". Salud Pública de México. 45: 281–295. doi: 10.1590/S0036-36342003000800015 . ISSN   0036-3634.
  5. ↑ China uses fear to hush up poisoned children
  6. ↑ Watts, Jonathan; correspondent, Asia environment (2009-08-20). "1,300 Chinese children near smelter suffer lead poisoning". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2016-02-19.{{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  7. ↑ "China to move residents from lead smelter base-report". Reuters. 2009-10-19. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  8. ↑ Fraser, Barbara (2009-07-01). "La Oroya's Legacy of Lead". Environmental Science & Technology. 43 (15): 5555–5557. Bibcode:2009EnST...43.5555F. doi: 10.1021/es901734g . PMID   19731644.
  9. ↑ Fernandez, G. O.; Martinez, R. R.; Fortoul, T. I.; Palazuelos, E. (1997-02-01). "High blood lead levels in ceramic folk art workers in Michoacan, Mexico". Archives of Environmental Health. 52 (1): 51–55. doi:10.1080/00039899709603800. ISSN   0003-9896. PMID   9039858.
  10. ↑ Lalor, G. C.; Vutchkov, M. K.; Bryan, S. T.; Christie, C. D. C.; Donaldson, D.; Young, J.; Chambers, S. (2006-12-01). "Acute lead poisoning associated with backyard lead smelting in Jamaica". The West Indian Medical Journal. 55 (6): 394–398. doi: 10.1590/s0043-31442006000600005 (inactive 12 July 2025). ISSN   0043-3144. PMID   17691233.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
  11. ↑ Jones, Donald E.; Diop, Assane; Block, Meredith; Smith-Jones, Alexander; Smith-Jones, Andrea (2011). "Assessment and Remediation of Lead Contamination in Senegal". Journal of Health and Pollution. 1 (2): 37–47. doi: 10.5696/2156-9614.1.2.37 .
  12. ↑ US Centers for Disease Control (203). "Blood Lead Levels and Risk Factors for Lead Poisoning Among Children in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico" (PDF). United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Environmental Health, Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch/Health Studies Branch.[ permanent dead link ]
  13. ↑ "WHO | Nigeria: mass lead poisoning from mining activities, Zamfara State". www.who.int. Archived from the original on July 8, 2010. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  14. ↑ Yabe, John; Nakayama, Shouta M. M.; Ikenaka, Yoshinori; Yohannes, Yared B.; Bortey-Sam, Nesta; Oroszlany, Balazs; Muzandu, Kaampwe; Choongo, Kennedy; Kabalo, Abel Nketani (2015-01-01). "Lead poisoning in children from townships in the vicinity of a lead–zinc mine in Kabwe, Zambia". Chemosphere. 119: 941–947. Bibcode:2015Chmsp.119..941Y. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.09.028. hdl: 2115/58817 . PMID   25303652. S2CID   267070208.
  15. ↑ "Notes from the Field: Severe Environmental Contamination and Elevated Blood Lead Levels Among Children — Zambia, 2014". www.cdc.gov. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  16. ↑ "甘肅天水幼兒園｢247名幼兒血鉛異常｣　天水市委書記等10人被問責" [Lead Abnormalities Found in 247 Kindergarten Children in Tianshui, Gansu; Party Secretary and Nine Others Held Accountable]. HK01 . 20 July 2025.
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