Volunteers in Action

Danger Zone Mitrovica/e – Be aware of Lead
By Angela Griep

Mitrovica/e is not only a special place in terms of ethnic tensions. High levels of lead in the environment of the town and its surrounding areas present a significant risk for mental and physical health especially of children under 6 years. UN Volunteers Hana Klimesova, Title, and Elizabeth Morfaw, Health Risk Assessment Coordinator are working for the World Health Organization (WHO) on a survey about the impact of lead exposure on children’s health. “The research is done in order to build the scientific basis for further actions and projects in regards to dealing with the environmental pollution from heavy metals in this region ”, explains Elizabeth.

Mitrovica/e is not only a special place in terms of ethnic tensions. High levels of lead in the environment of the town and its surrounding areas build a significant risk for mental and physical health especially of children younger than 6 years. UN Volunteers Hana Klimesova, Specialist-Psychologist, and Elizabeth Morfaw, Health Risk Assessment Coordinator are working for the World Health Organization (WHO) on a survey about the impact of lead exposure on children’s health.

“We focus on children between 24 and 36 months old, because they were born after the Trepca smelter, the major source of lead pollution in Mitrovica/e, was closed down. So if the danger is over, as people like to think, these kids will not show any significant blood lead levels”, explains Hana. “On the one hand, we need proof, that the risk of lead exposure is still there, to alert the people, on the other hand the research is done in order to build a scientific basis for further actions and projects in regards to dealing with the environmental pollution from heavy metals in this region ”, adds Elizabeth.

The Trepca Mine Limited in Mitrovica/e was built in 1927. The smelter close to Zvecan commenced work in 1939. Because of the smelter and 3 huge tailing dams of the factory, environmental pollution in Mitrovica/e has increased dramatically. In 2000, the smelter was closed down in order to reduce health risks caused by pollution. But lead does not decompose over the years. It stays in the environment, in the soil, water, dust and food. The tailing dams guarantee a regular supply of ‘fresh’ dust and soil contaminated with lead, which is brought by the wind to Mitrovica/e, Zvecan and the surrounding areas.

The human body absorbs lead through the mouth, nose and skin. Mothers who are exposed to lead can intoxicate their unborn child through the blood-placenta barrier or their born child through breast-feeding. The health risks accompanying lead exposure can be dramatic, especially for young children. “99% of the lead absorbed by an adult will leave the body through urine and faeces, but only 32% of the lead a child absorbs can be excreted”, says Elizabeth. “Furthermore their typical hand to mouth activities as well as playing on the ground brings children in much closer contact with contaminated soil and dust. That’s why they face a much higher health risk”, explains Hana.

Lead toxicity can cause a whole array of problems such as brain or nerve damage, impaired speech and hearing problems, decreased mental ability, decreased learning abilities, reduced growth, high blood pressure, behavior problems such as hyperactivity in young and antisocial behavior at an older age and more.

The problem of lead has to be addressed from different perspectives: The means and locations of possible lead exposure need to be identified as well as the mental and physical consequences. Therefore the survey is divided into three parts, a medical, and environmental and a psychological assessment.

“The environmental assessment means collecting the environmental exposure history of the particular child, followed by the collection of environmental samples and laboratory analysis”, explains Elizabeth her field of responsibility. The parents answer a questionnaire, in order for the WHO team to find out in what way the child might be exposed to lead in his/her daily life. “We start with comparing the GPS coordinates of the home addresses with our 2002-2003 soil zone map reflecting the quantity of lead in milligrams per kilogram of soil in Mitrovica/e and its surrounding areas”, says Elizabeth giving an example. The map shows three zones. “According to European standards the percentage of lead in residential soils and gardens, shouldn’t exceed 450 mg/kg of soil. So zone C on our map contains 450 mg/kg or less. Zone B contains between 450 and 2000 milligrams of lead, and zone A more than 2000”, says Elizabeth. Zone A is basically located in North Mitrovica/e and Zvecan.

Besides the GPS coordinates, the questionnaire asks about additional possibilities of lead exposure. “Many people work in industries, which use lead such as the battery factory here in Mitrovica. Most of them don’t know that they bring the lead dust home in their clothes if they don’t take a shower and change clothes at work”, explains Elizabeth. Smoking at home would be another possibility of exposing children to lead.

While it is relatively easy to avoid lead exposure by not smoking, avoiding it while living in a contaminated area is more difficult. “There are ways to reduce the risk”, assures Hana, and giving examples: “You have to keep your house clean so that the child doesn’t come into contact with the dust. Let your child play in grassy and not in dusty areas. Make sure that the sleeping room faces a grassy area or a tree instead of a road. Regular nutrition is also important, because the body absorbs lead easier with an empty stomach. There are possibilities, it’s just that people don’t know about it. So we recently started a big Public Awareness Campaign.”

The decision for a child to proceed with the environmental assessment depends on a blood test. “10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood is the level of concern”, says Elizabeth. “So far we have examined 250 children. 20% of them have blood lead levels above 10 ug/dl, 12 kids have exceptionally high levels of over 40 ug/dl and 6 of them have levels above 70 ug/dl, which can only be described as a medical emergency. So all together the results we have so far are really alarming.”

The psychological screening focuses on the assessment of fine motor skills, particularly hand and eye coordination, gross motor skills, verbal abilities, cognitive development and attention span. This part of the assessment is an innovation within the Mitrovica unit of WHO. Hana has been developing it from the very beginning since she arrived in Kosovo 7 months ago. “I cannot do all the screening and the analysis for 300 children in North and South Mitrovica on my own, so I first looked for assistance from local psychologists”, recounts the UN Volunteer. That turned out to be difficult due to the lack of psychologists especially in the southern part of Kosovo. Hana found support at the universities of North Mitrovica and Pristina. 14 students of psychology from the south and 7 from the North assist her in the screenings. To qualify them for this difficult and sensitive task, Hana developed and carried out a full days training on what to do and how to do it. The results of the screening are recorded in a questionnaire that builds the basis for further analyses.

“Our first concern at the moment is to find out exactly how big the problem is, because we need scientific proof on what is happening for further action”, was Hana’s summary of the goal of the research. But children and parents might need assistance, especially when they are confronted with problems they were not aware of before participating in the survey. “We cannot leave people alone with our results”, Hana points out. “So we decided that we will meet with all parents after the project to give them a full psychological profile of their child and to offer support and advice if needed. In case there are further needs, WHO will continue its cooperation with Pristina University for the South and in the North there are two qualified psychologists available in order to meet the needs of the children.”

Following up on the project in terms of building institutions and working groups to take further action on the problem of environmental pollution in the region is going to be another challenge. “To do successful environmental projects you have to be willing to cooperate with everybody. If people only think about themselves or about money, the project will not be sustainable”, says Elizabeth, summarizing her concerns about Kosovo’s environmental future.

For more information please contact:

Angela Griep, UNV Public Information Officer, UNMIK, Email griep@un.org, or