Abuja: Lead poisoning linked with illegal mining has claimed lives of more than 400 infants while over 500 persons were admitted in hospitals in a northern Nigerian state since November, a government agency said Tuesday.
According to Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), "over 400 kids have died and 500 persons admitted in hospitals in Zamfara State following an outbreak of lead poisoning."
"The immature body system of children exposed to contaminated soils and gold processing tools tends to rapidly absorb associated lead and in the process poisoning then leading to convulsion, paralysis and even death," said Muhammad Sani-Sidi, Director General of the NEMA.
Sani-Sidi was speaking at a National Workshop on the 'Mitigation of the Risk of Lead poisoning Associated with Gold Mining and Processing among Rural Communities in Zamfara State'. June last year, a senior health official disclosed for the first time that 163 persons died due to inhalation of lead substances emanating from illegal mines.
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