Australia : High incidents of lead poisoning in children reported near Australian mining town

Via Xinhua :

" BRISBANE, Aug. 2 : One child develops lead poisoning every nine days in the Queensland mining town of Mt Isa, a new report revealed on Monday.

The statistic is published in the Medical Journal of Australia and comes amid legal action against Xstrata that allege its activities have left children brain damaged.

The report's co-author, Macquarie University associate professor Mark Taylor, has studied existing data on the problem and noted there is an obvious public health risk in the city.

"The evidence is clear. There is a single primary source of environmental lead in Mt Isa: the historic and ongoing mining and smelting activity," he said in the report.

"A purported lack of knowledge of the lead source is no longer a tenable response and provides no long term resolution for Xstrata, the government or the children of Mt Isa whose futures are at risk."

He said the city will continue to be at risk as long as stakeholders, including Xstrata, keep blaming natural lead levels in the environment."

The article from Australian Medical Journal. (click for link)