| Title: |
Research Mass Lead Intoxication from Informal Used Lead-Acid Battery Recycling in Dakar, Senegal |
| Authors: |
Pascal Haefliger; Monique Mathieu-nolf; Stephanie Lociciro; Cheikh Ndiaye; Malang Coly; Amadou Diouf; Absa Lam Faye; Aminata Sow; Joanna Tempowski; Jenny Pronczuk; Antonio Pedro Filipe Junior; Roberto Bertollini; Maria Neira |
| Contributors: |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
| Source: |
ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/b5/c0/Environ_Health_Perspect_2009_Oct_14_117(10)_1535-1540.tar.gz |
| Collection: |
CiteSeerX |
| Subject Terms: |
Key w o r d s; battery; children; intoxication; lead; poisoning; recycling; ULAB. Environ H |
| Description: |
rapidly progressive central nervous system disease of unexplained origin in a community involved in the recycling of used lead-acid batteries (ULAB) in the suburbs of Dakar, Senegal. We investigated the cause of these deaths. Me t h o d s: Because autopsies were not possible, the investigation centered on clinical and laboratory assessments performed on 32 siblings of deceased children and 23 mothers and on 18 children and 8 adults living in the same area, complemented by environmental health investigations. Re s u l t s: All 81 individuals investigated were poisoned with lead, some of them severely. The blood lead level of the 50 children tested ranged from 39.8 to 613.9 µg/dL with a mean of 129.5 µg/dL. Seventeen children showed severe neurologic features of toxicity. Homes and soil in surrounding areas were heavily contaminated with lead (indoors, up to 14,000 mg/kg; outdoors, up to 302,000 mg/kg) as a result of informal ULAB recycling. Co n c l u s i o n s: Our investigations revealed a mass lead intoxication that occurred through inhalation and ingestion of soil and dust heavily contaminated with lead as a result of informal and unsafe ULAB recycling. Circumstantial evidence suggested that most or all of the 18 deaths were due to encephalopathy resulting from severe lead intoxication. Findings also suggest that most habitants |
| Document Type: |
text |
| File Description: |
application/zip |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.355.8721 |
| Availability: |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.355.8721 |
| Rights: |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.A6F43D6F |
| Database: |
BASE |