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Lead Poisoning in the Dominican Republic

How long has this been occuring

Screening of several children in the neighborhood surrounding the factory began in the late 90’s, when the children began showing symptoms of lead poisoning.

How the Environment is Being Damaged

Lead furnace slag has contaminated the soil, and therefore the food, and water.Pretty much everything is contaminated. Even walking barefoot on the ground can contaminate you.

Population

Bajos de Haina has a total population of 66,784 people.

Bajos de Haina

What's Going on?

How are humans being affected

The port of Bajo de Haina, which once featured a Used Lead Acid Battery recovery operation, now has a severe lead contamination problem and the people are getting lead poisoning.

The people in this region suffer from neurological damage and chronic illnesses as a result of the lead pollution, and the women suffer from infertility. Because many of these people live in extreme poverty it is difficult for them to get treatment or work in their conditions.

How/Why Humans are Causing Lead Posioning

Climate

Nearly the entire population of people in Bajos de Haina are showing signs of lead poisoning due to an abandoned lead- acid (car) battery recycling smelter (a smelter is an installation or factory for smelting a metal from its ore) that is near the community. The people caused it because they put the smelter in the community. They put the smelter there to extract metal from its or in the batteries, but the batteries were improperly recycled.

The climate of the Dominican Republic is typically warm and sunny all year long. It can become cooler and less humid during their Winter months of November to April, but the outside temperature still ranges from 68 degrees Fahrenheit to 83 degrees Fahrenheit. During the Summer months the high humidity often makes the temperature much hotter than it actually is.

Waste in Bajo de Haina

Three Major Industries

Works Cited

World Weather Online. Web. 4 March 2015.

Web-Calendar. web. 4 March 2015.

Blacksmith Institute. Web. 4 March 2015.

Worst Polluted. Blacksmith Institute, Green Cross, Global Alliance of Health and Pollution. Web. 4 March 2015.

Hispaniola. Web. 4 March 2015.

IndexMundi. Web. 4 March 2015.

Terragraphics International. Web. 4 March 2015.

iGlobe. Web. 5 March 2015.

  • Tourism
  • Sugar Processing
  • Mining

Dominican Republic flag

Can this be Fixed?

What is being done to help or fix the problem

-A significant amount of social support is being provided to those who are affected by the life-long disabilities that come with lead poisoning

-The government is trying to take action and remove contaminated material

-The government is beginning to educate the community of the health risks

-Foundations like The Blacksmith Foundation are raising money to help the community being affected

While the area was cleaned and the waste was transported elsewhere, there are irreversible effects to the environment and to the children that cannot be fixed.

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