Trends in lead exposure in a rural mining town in South Africa, 1991 - 2008

Nisha Naicker; Angela Mathee

doi:10.7196/SAMJnew.7809

Correspondence

Trends in lead exposure in a rural mining town in South Africa, 1991 - 2008

Nisha Naicker, Angela Mathee

Abstract

Lead exposure through mining processes contributes significantly to environmental and human contamination worldwide. The series of surveys reported, conducted over a period of 17 years in a South African lead-mining town, indicates an elevated and enduring (73% of children had BLLs ≥5 μg/dL), yet avoidable, risk of exposure to lead.

Authors' affiliations

Nisha Naicker, Medical Research Council of South Africa Environment and Health Research Unit, Johannesburg, South Africa; School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Angela Mathee, Medical Research Council of South Africa Environment and Health Research Unit, Johannesburg, South Africa; School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg (Doornfontein Campus), South Africa