Senegal: Outbreak of lead intoxication in Thiaroye sur Mer
Update 1 - 06 August 2008
6 August 2008 - Following an unexplained cluster of 18 deaths in children living in the NGagne Diaw neighborhood of Thiaroye sur Mer, Dakar, Senegal, medical investigations conducted on 55 siblings and mothers of deceased children as well as on another 26 randomly selected children and adults living in the same quarter indicated that all of them were severely intoxicated with lead. These findings raised concerns that most of the 950 inhabitants of the NGagne Diaw neighborhood might be intoxicated with lead. Environmental investigations showed very high concentrations of lead in soil both outside and inside people's homes throughout this quarter.
With WHO's assistance, the Senegalese health authorities are providing chelation therapy to the most severely intoxicated children already identified. As of today, 25 out of 47 children have received a 3-week round of chelation with positive outcomes. Their blood lead levels have decreased significantly and their clinical status improved accordingly.
Ongoing efforts will now concentrate on the remaining priorities, in particular to provide further chelation therapy to the intoxicated children already identified and to stop the exposure of the population that is still living in the contaminated area (estimated to 950 persons). In addition, the systematic screening of the exposed population will provide further information regarding other individuals in need of chelation therapy.
Publications on this event
Article from Environmental Health Perspectives
Mass Lead Intoxication from Informal Used Lead Acid Battery Recycling in Dakar, Senegal
Full text
Update - 23 February 2009
Previous information on this event:
French version
Further information on lead and its health effects:
- Environmental Health Criteria (EHC) on inorganic lead
- Information on lead from Healthy Environments for Children Alliance [pdf 860kb]
- Information on heavy metals from the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS)
- Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of waste lead-acid batteries - Secretariat of the Basel Convention (English) [pdf 2.31mb]
- Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of waste lead-acid batteries - Secretariat of the Basel Convention (French) [pdf 10.76mb]
- UNEP - Lead and cadmium activities