{"id":20069957,"date":"2021-04-07T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=69957"},"modified":"2021-09-13T20:37:01","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T15:07:01","slug":"in-kyrgyzstan-toxic-dust-from-lead-dumps-blows-across-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/in-kyrgyzstan-toxic-dust-from-lead-dumps-blows-across-region\/","title":{"rendered":"In Kyrgyzstan, toxic dust from lead dumps blows across region"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ogulkan Seitova has a constant headache. Her husband has a heart condition and all her five children suffer from tooth decay. Seitova, 46, lives in the village of Sovetskoe, in the south-western region of Batken, Kyrgyzstan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near the village are two sites used to store waste from lead and zinc mining. Their sandy surface is red and spread over 25 hectares. Children play football here and swim in the nearby lake, and cattle graze. With the slightest wind, dust from the mine tailings covers the village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sovetskoe village is close to two lead waste dumps [Image by: Rakhmanbek Toichuev]<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sovetskoe, home to around 1,300 people, is in the Ferghana Valley, a densely populated 22,000-square-kilometre area of fertile land shared by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. But the village is being poisoned by its toxic legacy from the Soviet era, with wider consequences for the valley and its people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toxic legacy from mining<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The area around Sovetskoe is rich in lead and zinc ore deposits, mining and processing of which started in the 1930s. In 1971, the industry was shut down, with mining waste disposed of in two sites: the largest is on the edge of the village, the second 3-4 km away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

Between them, the two pits contain 2.5 million cubic metres of sand contaminated with heavy metal salts \u2013 equivalent to 1,000 Olympic swimming pools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead is a toxic metal that accumulates in the body. Symptoms of lead poisoning in adults include headaches, memory loss and abdominal pain; children are particularly harmed. Exposure causes damage to the developing brain and nervous system, resulting in lower IQs and behavioural problems. There is no safe level of lead exposure, according to the World Health Organisation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sovetskoe, poor management and lack of regulation at the sites have led to large-scale environmental pollution. For years, exploiting the waste sand has been big business, used in construction both by the local population, as well as people in neighbouring countries \u2013 all unaware of the hazardous nature of the contaminated sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Our future is in danger\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Between 2018 and 2020, a team of researchers at the Institute of Medical Problems, a Kyrgyz research institute and treatment provider, studied 322 children in Sovetskoe\u2019s schools, where 80% of the children travel from surrounding areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you know?<\/p>

One in three children worldwide have high blood lead levels<\/a> (about 800 million children).<\/p>

While this has declined in high-income countries, in low- and middle-income countries levels remain dangerously high.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The children were examined for signs of disease by paediatricians, endocrinologists, gynaecologists, neuropathologists, gastroenterologists, surgeons, orthopaedists, cardiologists and other specialists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study found that 89.4% of the children had tooth decay (lead exposure is known to be associated<\/a> with oral health problems). Enlarged thyroid glands were recorded in 6.8%. Of sexually mature girls, 32.4% had disrupted menstrual cycles. In 15.8% of girls, irregular bone structure of the thorax was observed. Two cases of mental disability were identified, and one of mental illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In drinking water<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Zamirbek Dosatov, a teacher, said, \u201cWe consume water from the spring and well. The water hardness is very high and it exceeds the norm by 1.7-1.9 times. The water contains high concentrations of lead and zinc and is considered to be non-potable in terms of water quality standards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, Pure Earth, a non-profit organisation that works to solve pollution issues in the developing world, tested blood samples<\/a> from 220 children in the village. It found that lead concentrations were higher than normal in 89%, and 90 children were at risk of lead poisoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLead has a hazardous effect on mental development, endocrine and skeletal systems. The schoolchildren\u2019s academic performance is very low. There is a high incidence of childhood disability in the village. Our future is in danger and we need help,\u201d Dosatov told The Third Pole<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across Kyrgyzstan, on average roughly 1.41 in every 1,000 people receive disability benefits. In the region of Batken, where Sovetskoe is located, this is 1.75; the village\u2019s district of Kadamjay has an incidence rate of 2.12. And in Sovetskoe, the figure is 3.00, twice the national average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n