More than one third of the population of Kabwe, Zambia— over 76,000 people—live in lead-contaminated townships. Studies estimate that half of the children in these areas have elevated blood lead levels that warrant medical treatment.

Kabwe, the capital of Zambia’s Central Province, was home to a lead mine from 1904-1994. During that period, smelter fumes covered much of the surrounding soil with lead dust. The mine, which opened while Zambia was a British colony, was owned and operated by British companies until 1970, when the Zambian government nationalized the mining industry. The government closed the mine in 1994 and privatized its assets the following year. Since then, seasonal flooding and windblown dust from the mine dump, as well as ongoing small-scale mining, have worsened the contamination.

Report by the Human Rights Watch