UNEP report links lead
and other heavy metals pollution to degrading
health of children living around Dandora
waste dump in Nairobi, Kenya
Nairobi, 5 October 2007 - One of Africa's
largest waste dumps, the Dandora Municipal
Dumping Site in Nairobi, is a serious threat
to children living nearby and the city's
environment generally, a new study shows.
The study, commissioned by the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP), examined 328 children
aged 2-18 living around the Dandora waste
dump and its health implications. The study
also compared soil samples from the site
with another location just outside of Nairobi.
Half of the children tested had concentrations
of lead in their blood exceeding internationally
accepted levels, while 42 percent of soil
samples recorded lead levels almost 10 times
higher than what is considered unpolluted
soil (over 400 parts per million (ppm) compared
to 50 ppm).
Children have been exposed to pollutants
such as heavy metals and toxic substances
through soil, water and air (smoke from
waste burning) with implications for respiratory,
gastrointestinal and dermatological or skin
diseases. Almost half of the children tested
were suffering from respiratory diseases,
including chronic bronchitis and asthma.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General
and UNEP Executive Director, said: "We
had anticipated some tough and worrisome
findings, but the actual results are even
more shocking than we had imagined at the
outset".
"The Dandora site may pose some special
challenges for the city of Nairobi and Kenya
as a nation. But it is also a mirror to
the condition of rubbish sites across many
parts of Africa and other urban centres
of the developing world," he said.
Mr Steiner said UNEP stands ready to assist
the local and national authorities in the
search for improved waste management systems
and strategies including ones that generate
sustainable and healthier jobs in the waste
handling and recycling sectors.
"It is clear that urgent action is
needed to reduce the health and environmental
hazards so that children and adults can
go about their daily lives without fear
of being poisoned and without damage to
nearby river systems," he said.
The 30-acre large Dandora dumping site
receives 2,000 tonnes of rubbish every day,
including plastics, rubber and lead paint
treated wood, generated by some 4.5 million
people living the Kenyan capital. The study
also found evidence of the presence of hazardous
waste, such as chemical and hospital waste,
on the dumpsite.
Every day, scores of people, including
children, from the nearby slums and low-income
residential areas use the dump to find food,
recyclables and other valuables they can
sell as a source of income, at the same
time inhaling the noxious fumes from routine
waste burning and methane fires. Waste often
finds its way into the Nairobi River that
runs just meters away from the dumpsite,
polluting water used by local residents
and farmers downstream.
The St. John's Catholic Church and Informal
School is located in close proximity to
the dump. Between 2003 and 2006, the Church
dispensary has treated 9,121 people per
year on average for respiratory problems.
"We have been witnessing an alarming
situation regarding Dandora children's health:
asthma, anaemia and skin infections are
by now endemic. These abnormalities are
linked to the environment around the dumping
site, and are exacerbated by poverty, illiteracy
and malnutrition. Since waste dumping is
unrestricted and unmanaged, people are also
at risk from contracting blood-borne diseases
such as hepatitis and HIV/AIDS," said
Njoroge Kimani, principal investigator and
author of the report.
Mr Kimani and his team conducted detailed
research into Dandora Municipal Dumping
Site's impacts on public health and the
environment. Experts from the University
of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Kenyatta
National Hospital and Kenya Agricultural
Research Institute as well as local community
leaders from St. John's Catholic Church
in Korogocho have supported the study.
Soil and water samples were analyzed for
heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, cadmium
and chromium, and persistent organic pollutants,
including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
and pesticides. Blood and urine samples
were analyzed for the same pollutants and
for signs of diseases associated with them.
The results show dangerously high levels
of heavy metals, especially lead, mercury
and cadmium, at the dumpsite, in the surrounding
environment and in local residents. Lead
and cadmium levels found on the dumpsite
were 13,500 ppm and 1,058 ppm, respectively,
compared to the action levels in The Netherlands
of 150 ppm/5 ppm for these heavy metals.
One soil sample from the banks of Nairobi
River indicates high levels of mercury (over
18 ppm against the safe level of 2 ppm).
The soil surface samples also recorded cadmium
concentration 50 times higher than in unpolluted
soil (53 ppm compared to 1 ppm).
Health wise, 50 percent of the children
had blood lead levels equal to or above
the internationally accepted action levels
of 10 micrograms per decilitre of blood,
including two children with concentrations
of over 29 and 32 micrograms.
Low haemoglobin levels and iron deficiency
anaemia, some of the known symptoms of lead
poisoning, have been detected in 50 and
30 percent of the children, respectively.
Exposure to high lead levels is also linked
with a wide range of other ill effects including
damage to the nervous system and the brain,
whilst cadmium poisoning causes damage to
internal organs, especially kidneys, and
cancers.
According to World Health Organization
(WHO), a quarter of all diseases affecting
the humankind are attributable to environmental
risks with children more vulnerable than
adults. Among children under five, environmentally-related
illnesses are responsible for more than
4.7 million deaths annually. Twenty-five
percent of deaths in developing countries
are related to environmental factors, compared
with 17 percent of deaths in the developed
world.
"The children of Dandora, Kenya, Africa
and the world deserve better than this.
We can no longer afford rubbish solutions
to the waste management crisis faced in
far too many cities, especially in the developing
world," said Mr Steiner.
The study urges expediting decision-making
on the waste dump in an economically, socially
and environmentally sustainable manner.
Father Daniele Moschetti, a Comboni missionary
priest working with the local community
in the slums surrounding the dumpsite, said:
"The poor are the best recyclers in
the world; nothing of value goes to waste.
But this should not put them and their families'
lives in danger. The local community is
advocating for a closing and relocation
of the dumpsite, whereby a controlled and
well-managed waste processing facility should
be established. This will not only reduce
health and environment impacts but also
generate jobs and income for the local community."
"Many local peoples' livelihoods depend
on Dandora's wastes. The challenge is to
minimize?indeed halt- the level of hazardous
materials coming to the tip in the first
place and better treatment of toxic and
medical wastes before they arrive. We also
need to deliver safe and sustainable conditions
for the people working on, and living near,
the site. For the foreseeable future, growing
amounts of waste may be inevitable but we
should learn how to better assist poor people
who depend on this waste and promote the
recycling and reuse of this waste as a safer
economic opportunity," said Mr Steiner.
Notes to Editors
The summary of the report Environmental
Pollution and Impacts on Public Health;
Implications of the Dandora Municipal Dumping
Site in Nairobi, Kenya can be found on UNEP's
website at www.unep.org/urban_environment/
The report was prepared by Njoroge G. Kimani,
a clinical biochemist of Kenyatta Hospital,
with support from Rob de Jong of UNEP's
Urban Environment Unit.
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson
