20100921
RFI

Nigerian officials report that more than 18,000 people have been affected by lead poisoning following massive lead contamination because of illicit gold mining.Up to 200 children have also died in the most affected villages around the gold mining areas of Bukkuyum and Anka in the northern Zamfara state.

The poisoning was triggered by makeshift processing of lead-rich ore to extract gold, with crushed rock often taken into homes and communities, while the residue is discarded haphazardly in the soil.

The UN has sent to Nigeria five experts equipped with a mobile laboratory to help health authorities tackle the contamination and to ensure that it has not spread.

The environmental emergency experts going to the scene of the seven villages, will be taking soil and water samples, said Elizabeth Byrs of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Byrs told RFI that local officials noticed an abnormal increase in children's deaths in the area back in March and found lead poisoning to be the cause.

Efforts to stem the problem could be hampered by the onset of the rainy season, she said.

"We must to do more to address this crisis," said Byrs.