Blacksmith Institute Research Articles

Environmental Pollution and Human Health: Estimation and Action, From Local to Global and Back

Environmental Pollution and Human Health: Estimation and Action, From Local to Global and Back

Exploring the Role of Social Capital in the Conduct of Initial Site Assessments of Polluted Sites in the Philippines

Background. A number of studies have shown how enhanced social capital can improve environmental outcomes through decreased transaction costs, increased knowledge and information flow, and improved monitoring and enforcement. Objectives. Social capital plays an important role in reducing adversarial perceptions of initial site assessments of toxic hotspots. It also mobilizes stakeholders to work together to come up with a holistic and comprehensive site assessment. This paper explains the role of social capital in the conduct of the Blacksmith Institute's Global Inventory Project site assessment protocol in the Philippines. Methods. The study describes and analyzes the role of social capital in the conduct of the initial site assessment based on the actual experiences and observations of the authors and a review of discourse that took place during regular meetings of the Blacksmith Institute's local investigative team. Results. As of June 2011, 105 polluted sites have been identified in the Philippines. I...

Welcome to the first issue of the Blacksmith Institute Journal of Health and Pollution — JH&P

Welcome to the first issue of the Blacksmith Institute Journal of Health and Pollution — JH&P

Lead Exposures from Car Batteries—A Global Problem

In “Mass Lead Intoxication from Informal Used Lead Acid Battery Recycling in Dakar, Senegal,” Haefliger et al. (2009) described a problem throughout the developing world that is both tragic and only now beginning to be understood with respect to its extent and effect. Eighteen children (and more since) died from acute lead poisoning in late 2008 in Dakar. These poisonings occurred because the individuals recycling car batteries melted slag without appropriate controls and without having any understanding of the toxicity of lead. Most of these recyclers were women who brought their children to their work sites without knowing the risks. These problems are not restricted to Senegal. Without much effort, investigators from Blacksmith Institute have identified another 22 sites worldwide that are similar to this one. The identified sites are in cities in poor countries, especially in the tropics (e.g., the Dominican Republic, Philippines, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Ghana, Jamaica) (Blacksmith Institute 2009). Epidemiologic studies of exposed populations, such as the one in Senegal reported by Haefliger et al. (2009), are urgently needed to characterize exposures and identify related health effects. An earlier example of such a study was conducted in the Dominican Republic at Haina (also known as Bajos de Haina), which has been called the “Dominican Chernobyl.” This community is near an abandoned lead-acid battery recycling smelter, and most of the residents showed signs of lead poisoning. The Haina site, as well as the surrounding area, was the scene of severe lead poisoning in the 1990s. In March 1997, 116 children were surveyed, and 146 children were surveyed in August 1997. Mean blood lead concentrations were 71 μg/dL (range, 9–234 μg/dL) in March and 32 μg/dL (range, 6–130 μg/dL) in August (Kaul et al. 1999). The study revealed that at least 28% of the children required immediate treatment and 5% had lead levels > 79 μg/dL, putting them at risk for severe neurologic sequelae at the time of the study. In the United States, the action level for blood lead concentration is 10 μg/dL (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2007; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2000). The scientific findings from Haina (Kaul et al. 1999) drove a collaborative cleanup of this site, which has recently been completed. The Blacksmith Institute helped locate funding, worked closely with local authorities, and provided technical assistance to assure the cleanup was adequate. We are currently beginning a similar cleanup project in Dakar, at the site studied by Haefliger et al. (2009). Almost all large urban centers in the developing world have a problem with recycling used lead acid batteries, and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of children are exposed to lead from battery recycling. In humid conditions, car batteries need to be replaced every 2 or 3 years, and car use is increasing throughout the world, which will result in even more used batteries. Thus, this problem deserves our immediate and serious attention.

The Beat

Vol. 115, No. 2 EnvironewsOpen AccessThe Beat Erin E. Dooley Erin E. Dooley Search for more papers by this author Published:1 February 2007https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.115-a77bAboutSectionsPDF ToolsDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InReddit Dirty City RoundupIn October 2006, the Blacksmith Institute released a report identifying the world’s 10 most polluted cities based on factors such as toxicity of the pollution involved and clear evidence of health impacts. In Dzherzhinsk, Russia, which was a chemical weapons manufacturing site during the Cold War, people have a life expectancy about half that of people in the world’s richest nations. Linfen, China, another of the top 10, lies in the heart of that country’s coal-producing Shanxi Province; its residents suffer from bronchitis, pneumonia, and lung cancer thought to be the result of the area’s poor air quality. The other eight cities are Norilsk and Rudnaya Pristan, Russia; Haina, Dominican Republic; Ranipet, India; Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan; La Oroya, Peru; Chernobyl, Ukraine; and Kabwe, Zambia.Lead Lightens UpSince 1993 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded grants totaling approximately $1 billion for lead-based paint remediation in private low-income homes across the country. After six years, researchers led by Jonathan Wilson of the National Center for Healthy Housing looked at four such sites to measure the effectiveness of these programs. Their findings, published in the October 2006 issue of Environmental Research, show that dust lead levels on floors and window sills declined continuously over the six years since the intervention; levels of lead dust in window troughs, while gradually increasing over time, were still 75% lower than before the intervention.Hospitals Trigger AsthmaAt least 20 million Americans suffer from asthma. Now the group Health Care Without Harm has released a report showing that hospitals abound with substances that can trigger or even cause asthma. These include cleaners such as disinfectants and sterilizers, fumes outgassing from building materials, pesticides, and latex gloves. Nurses are at particular risk from the disinfectant gluteraldehyde and the sterilizing agent ethylene oxide. Safer alternatives to these substances are described in the report, available at http://www.noharm.org/.Ballast Water BallyhooAlien species of fish, mollusks, and aquatic weeds in U.S. waters—many introduced from ballast water discharged from ships—are believed to cost the nation nearly $8 billion. In a move to quell the further introduction of such species, a federal district judge in California ruled in September 2006 that the EPA must begin regulating ballast water as a biological pollutant beginning in 2008. Until now, the EPA has claimed a clause in the Clean Water Act exempts it from regulating discharges that are “incidental to the normal operations of a vessel.” The judge ruled, however, that this exemption is “plainly contrary to the congressional intent” of the act.The Ouch of ARGsAccording to the WHO, more than 2 million Americans are infected each year with antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and 14,000 die as a result. A study in the 1 December 2006 issue of Environmental Science & Technology puts forth the idea that antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)—pieces of DNA that make bacteria resistant to common antibiotics—should be considered emerging environmental contaminants. ARGs are rapidly spread by horizontal gene transfer among bacteria. Even if cells containing ARGs are killed, DNA released from them can spread to other cells. The study authors found tetracycline and sulfonamide ARGs in several types of waters in northern Colorado, including treated drinking water and recycled wastewater, both of which could be potential pathways for human exposure.Plateau in Smoking Rate DeclineA years-long decline in the adult smoking rate stalled between 2004 and 2005, according to the most recent report by the CDC. Reasons for the plateau may include smaller annual increases in cigarette prices, a 26.5% reduction in funding for comprehensive state programs in tobacco control and prevention between 2002 and 2006, and a doubling of tobacco company advertising and promotional spending between 1998 and 2003. The report also notes that 42.5% of current smokers stopped smoking for at least a day during the past year, and that just over half of all smokers successfully quit.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 115, No. 2 February 2007Metrics About Article Metrics Publication History Originally published1 February 2007Published in print1 February 2007 Financial disclosuresPDF download License information EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted. Note to readers with disabilities EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact [email protected]. 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The Beat

The Beat