Lead Poisoning in La Oroya

Lead poisoning is one of the most serious ailments facing both adults and children in La Oroya, Peru. Children under the age of 6 are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can severely affect mental and physical development. Of La Oroya’s 12,000 children, 99.7 percent have blood lead levels that exceed acceptable limits.

One of the most contaminated sections of La Oroya is La Oroya Antigua (The Old Oroya), a neighborhood located on a hillside adjacent to the Doe Run smelter. La Oroya Antigua is so poor, most residents lack running water or sanitation. Several years ago, the air quality sampling in the neighborhood by three Peruvian voluntary agencies found 13 times more lead than is safe. In parts of the town the water supply contains 50 percent more lead than levels recommended by the World Health Organization.

Lead poisoning occurs when lead builds up in the body, often over a period of months or years. It first attacks the blood’s hemoglobin, and then the nervous system. In children, lead poisoning can occur at doses that do not cause outward physical signs of poisoning until significant damage has been done.

Many experts believe that when a child’s blood lead level exceeds 10 mg/dL -a relatively low level of exposure – there is a high probability of permanent neurological damage. In children, exposure at this level can lead to decreased intelligence, short-term memory loss, reading under-achievement, impairment of visual-motor function, loss of auditory memory, poor perceptual integration, poor classroom behavior, and impaired reaction time.

All parts of the body are endangered by lead poisoning. For example, lead interferes with bone formation by blocking absorption of calcium, which affects memory storage and the differentiation of cells in the nervous system. Lead is stored in the bone, matrix, and in pregnant women, this lead can be passed on to the unborn child.

Most of the children of La Oroya were exposed to exceedingly dangerous levels of lead even before they were born. A 2007 study of newborn babies in La Oroya by neurologist Dr Hugo Villa showed a quarter of those tested had dangerously high lead levels in their blood. According to another study, 67 percent of children in La Oroya had lead levels so high that they should have been medically treated.

Adult in La Oroya are also suffering because of the Doe Run smelter’s lead emissions. In 2000-2001, a study commissioned by Doe Run Peru showed the average lead levels in the blood of 1,198 residents were 2.5 times above World Health Organization limits.