In Northern Nigeria, a catastrophe is unfolding as thousands
of children are sickened with lead poisoning by illegal gold mining. More than four hundred children have been
reported that have died and thousands more are affected. Doctors are struggling in setting up clinics
to treat children around borders and are calling it one of the worst cases of
environmental lead poisoning. This was
first realized in 2010 when children started dying in villages and medical
providers could not explain the cause. “Initially,
they and we thought there was some sort of communicable disease. It felt like a hemorrhagic fever or
something,” says Ivan Gayton. Sources
say that the raw ore, laced with lead, is processed by the men who smash the
rocks and then send smaller pieces to flour mills to further crush into a more
dust like substance. This dust contains
large amounts of lead and is easily put into the air. Even cleanup of the lead is going to be difficult;
“Unless the promised funds are released immediately, cleanup of the
contaminated areas won’t be able to start until after next year’s rainy season,”
Babatunde Olugboji, director at Human Rights Watch.
With today being Valentine’s Day, many women are expecting
candy, flowers, or even some kind of jewelry.
Gold prices have reached a wealthy price per ounce. Today gold is worth $1,700 per ounce. This “gold” rush is the cause for the International
market to push in finding more gold. Africa
holds this large source of ore. Due to
the free-trade market and the opportunity cost of finding this gold is the driving
factor for the illegal mining. The
children in the neighboring villages in Africa are highly paying the price for
this high demanded ore. If the men had
proper equipment for processing the ore, there would be fewer cases and not a
large spread for the lead poisoning.
This is a prime example in how a market can drive greed and unethical situations
in search of products for income.
Jacqueline Wooten
SOC 202-01 2/14/213 3:56 PM
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