https://www.earthmagazine.org/tags/cdc/ Recent content in Cdc on EARTH Magazine Hugo en-US American Geosciences Institute. All rights reserved. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:38:00 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/gold-lead-and-death-nigeria/ Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:38:00 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/gold-lead-and-death-nigeria/ <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/gold-lead-and-death-nigeria/CoverimageGoldMining.jpg" alt="An unprecedented lead poisoning epidemic in Zamfara, Nigeria, is the result of artisanal gold mining operations, where families participate in the gold processing. Courtesy of TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc." loading="eager" decoding="async"> <figcaption>An unprecedented lead poisoning epidemic in Zamfara, Nigeria, is the result of artisanal gold mining operations, where families participate in the gold processing. Courtesy of TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc.</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/gold-lead-and-death-nigeria/FlourMills.jpg" alt="Nigerian families process gold ore in flour mills. James Durant, ATSDR environmental health scientist" loading="lazy" decoding="async"> <figcaption>Nigerian families process gold ore in flour mills. James Durant, ATSDR environmental health scientist</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/gold-lead-and-death-nigeria/XRFscanning.jpg" alt="Researchers used portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer technology to characterize the heavy metal concentrations in the soil in Nigeria. Courtesy of TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc." loading="lazy" decoding="async"> <figcaption>Researchers used portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer technology to characterize the heavy metal concentrations in the soil in Nigeria. Courtesy of TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc.</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/gold-lead-and-death-nigeria/Remediation.jpg" alt="Trained local laborers systematically remove the top layer of contaminated soil using locally available tools under the supervision of local and state government supervisors and managers. Courtesy of TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc." loading="lazy" decoding="async"> <figcaption>Trained local laborers systematically remove the top layer of contaminated soil using locally available tools under the supervision of local and state government supervisors and managers. Courtesy of TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc.</figcaption> </figure> <h3 id="geology-economics-and-culture-culminate-in-a-perfect-storm-with-deadly-results">Geology, economics and culture culminate in a perfect storm with deadly results</h3> <p>In March 2010, a team from <a href="http://www.msf.org/">Médecins Sans Frontières</a> (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders), monitoring for endemic diseases such as meningitis and malaria, visited villages in northwestern Nigeria after being informed by the local community of high mortality in children under five years old. The doctors were not immediately prepared for what they would find. In two villages they discovered children&rsquo;s fresh graves and a mortality rate of more than 40 percent. Children among the living showed intractable seizures and decreased levels of consciousness. The clues pointed toward a situation massively out of the ordinary, compelling MSF to immediately launch an investigation alongside Nigeria&rsquo;s state and federal government, the <a href="http://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> and the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC).</p>