Around the world, unsafe recycling of lead batteries (mainly from cars) is widespread. Perry Gottesfeld of Occupational Knowledge International (a San Francisco-based organization that campaigns worldwide against industrial pollution) called lead pollution “the most serious health threat to children”. In Senegal, 18 children died within three months of cerebral palsy caused by lead poisoning from a battery recycling plant on the outskirts of Dakar. In addition to those 18 children, hundreds more children in the residential area were poisoned. A person cooks lead manually in the Pesarean (Indonesia). Image source: Pure Earth On the other side of California, a giant lead smelter is located in the city of Torreon (Mexico), which has a history of childhood blood poisoning in the neighborhood and stretches back half a century. Air, soil and water pollution has long been documented around small and large lead smelting and recycling plants. Doctors all know that lead can be easily inhaled or swallowed, and when it enters the bloodstream, lead dust will immediately travel from the digestive tract to the brain. On the other hand, it should be known that lead is a potent neurotoxin and at no level has ever been deemed safe. Besides causing fever and affecting the gastrointestinal tract, lead poisoning also damages intellectual development in young children even at a low dose, reduces intelligence quotient (IQ), loss of attention. , and emotional disorders. Workers disintegrate car batteries in preparation for lead recycling in Patna, India. Image source: Pure Earth Lead poisoning is also believed to be the cause of outbreaks of violent behavior in communities in the United States and around the world. The UNICEF report noted: Lead wreaks havoc on the body in a silent way. One-third of children worldwide are suffering from lead poisoning from recycled batteries and other sources. Fatty profits but a danger to human health An estimated 85% of the lead used today is in batteries, mainly used in cars. And when the battery runs out, 99% of the expired battery will be recycled to create a new battery. The recycling battery business is very lucrative, this is a money-making business. Tens of thousands of people breaking batteries and smelters around the world are looking for ways to monetize it, collecting an abundance of used batteries and turning them into brand-new products. According to the International Lead Association, in London: “More than 6 million tons of lead are collected each year. Lead batteries are the most recycled consumer product in the world, thanks to recycling they no longer have to be mined.” Because of very little regulation, in many countries around the world, small-scale operators compete with the legal battery industry. “Total half of all batteries are in the informal economy, where unregulated and often illegal recycling processes have broken battery cases, spilling lead acid and dust into the ground. Lead smelting in open-air furnaces has spewed toxic fumes and dust around residential areas,” according to a report published in June 2020 by Pure Earth and UNICEF. With the rapid development of African economies, more than 800,000 tons of lead leach out of batteries each year on the subcontinent. And the consequences for human health and the environment have already begun to emerge. Two years ago, Mr. Gottesfeld completed research showing that lead poisoning had spread to the land around battery recycling plants in crowded slums or near schools in cities such as Dar es. Salaam (Tanzania), Lagos (Nigeria) and the port of Tema (Ghana). Lead contaminated soil is excavated in Dong Mai ward (Hanoi, Vietnam). Image source: Pure Earth In addition to Africa facing serious lead poisoning problems, Southeast Asia is also facing a similar crisis. Mr. Bill Daniell (School of Public Health, University of Washington) is the lead author of a 2015 study on lead exposure around Dong Mai ward (Ha Dong district, Hanoi), where many households are engaged in recycling. battery processing. More than 100 children in Dong Mai were tested and all showed high blood lead levels of more than ¼/45 micrograms/decilit, which is nine times the safe limit in the US. In India, a study published in 2019 by Toxics Link (an NGO based in New Delhi) announced that 90% of lead batteries in India in recycling plants are in the informal sector. awake. The study mapped residential areas in major cities like New Delhi, where lead-battery recycling plants operate without any official supervision. Nguyen Thanh Hai ( According to e360.yale.edu )

Drug shortages and medical hypoxia in India when the “tsunami” of COVID-19 swept through unintentionally to help the mercenaries, although many volunteers are still trying to support people on Twitter and Instagram. In the eastern Indian city of Patna, Pranay Puji runs from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for remdesivir for his seriously ill mother. The lack of oxygen in Indian hospitals is severe. (Artwork: Times of India) Finally, a pharmacist told him that if he wanted to buy this drug he had to go to the black market. The supply is offered at 100,000 rupees (1,340 USD), 30 times more expensive than the normal price and 3 times the average monthly income of an office worker in India. Punj then got the medicine from a distant relative whose wife just died of COVID-19. But the “nightmare” has only just begun. In the middle of the night, he received a phone call informing the hospital was running out of oxygen, pushing his mother’s situation into a more pressing situation. “A few hours ago, we managed to give my mother a very expensive hospital bed in a private hospital and move her there.” , I said. Similar heartbreaking stories unfold across India. Desperate people went to social media to ask for support with beds, oxygen and medicine. Although “Pharmacy of the world”, Indian drug manufacturers are unable to meet demand for antivirals such as remdesivir and favipiravir. In the northern city of Lucknow, Mr. Ahmed Abbas has just bought a 46-liter oxygen tank for 45,000 rubles ($ 602), nine times more expensive than the normal price. “They told me to pay first and come to them to pick up the goods the next day”, Abbas said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is being criticized for allowing mass events during the epidemic, said on April 20 that India was “making an effort” to increase supplies of medical goods. “One solution to this crisis is to create a stockpile of antiviral drugs when case numbers are low, but that has not been done.” , Says Raman GaiGaik, infectious disease specialist at Sahyadri Hospital, Pune. The remdesivir manufacturers responded Indian Express Last week the government asked them to stop production from January when the number of infections dropped. As the number of cases increased at a record speed, the Indian government did not take much action while health workers and residents were worried. “My friend is desperate … we tried all the government help lines but no one responded to (and) most of the oxygen providers turned off the phone”, Zain Zaidi, sales manager at a hotel in Lucknow said. “I just found a supplier but he charges 20,000 rupees. I have to buy it no matter what.” The 34-year-old man told AFP in a shocked voice before hanging up. Sheet Times of India reported that the average cost of an oxygen tank has “skyrocketed”, to 20,000 to 25,000 rupees, about 250-330 dollars. The viral advertisement on the oxygen tank costs 30,000 rupees (about 400 USD). Another offered it for 35,000 rupees, about $ 460. According to World Bank data, the gross national income per capita (GNI) in India is $ 2,120 per year. India is not the only country lacking oxygen. The WHO said 25 countries around the world reported a spike in oxygen demand, mainly in Africa. Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Egypt, Nigeria and other countries all reported equipment shortages as the number of COVID-19 cases increased, and more people turned to the black market. According to WHO estimates, more than half a million COVID-19 patients need daily oxygen therapy. That means 1.1 million oxygen cylinders per day.