A new report claims emissions from nearby mines are responsible for lead poisoning in the children of Mount Isa, leading to serious and life-threatening health conditions including irreversible brain damage.
Published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Pollution, the report documents research that points to lead levels in dust from Xstrata’s operations as being responsible for high lead levels in Mt Isa residents.
The research comes after a 2008 survey found 11 per cent of children in Mount Isa had elevated lead levels
Speaking to the ABC, Researcher Professor Mark Taylor said soil, dust and air was tested inside and outside homes and in public areas such as parks and gardens over a three year period.
“The data in the study tells us that it is absolutely clear … that those emissions are reaching the town and are the source and cause of lead that we find in the urban area of Mount Isa,” he told the ABC.
The study was partially funded by lawyers acting for residents, and claims to be the first complete assessment of the impacts of mining on Mount Isa’s natural and urban environment since ore extraction began in 1931.
Since 2008 when concerns were first raised, Glencore-Xstrata has claimed high lead levels in the city result from nearby natural deposits and not from mine operations. The company claims levels are within safety guidelines.
The global mining giant is conducting its own research in the field, which it says is the most comprehensive study of its kind.
However Professor Taylor says he found lead with a distinct chemical signature matching Xstrata’s mining operations.
“I think nobody’s done this sort of work before because nobody’s been commissioned to do the study, nobody’s wanted to find out necessarily the answer,” he said.
Queensland’s Mines Minister Andrew Cripps says a committee investigating lead levels in Mount Isa will review the new research.
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