VietNamNet Bridge – Most of the children in the Dong Mai Hamlet of Van Lam district in Hung Yen province have lead in their blood, the thing they receive from the recycling of batteries – the work that local residents have been doing for the last 30 years.

Kids in Dong Mai Hamlet.

The germs in blood

In 2012, the Ministry of Health sent its staff to the Dong Mai Hamlet to refer 109 children for tests. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, the children’s lead content in blood must not exceed the allowed level of 10mg/dl.

All the tested children reportedly had the lead content surpassing the allowed level suggested by CDC. Only six children were found as having the lead content exceeding by less than two times. 24 children were sent for venous blood re-tested and two of them were found as having the lead content at dangerous level, 17 at alarming rate, four at high level, and one at the boundary level.

All the children who were infected with lead were less than 10 years old. The ones who had the lead content at dangerous level were between 5 and 7 years old, and one of them was at the age of 2-3.

Le Ngoc Chuan, the son of Le Ngoc Hai, a battery recycling household in the hamlet, a four year old boy, was found as having the lead content at 74.52 mg/dl in blood, which was 7 times higher than the allowed level.

Hai has to bring Chuan to the Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi every year to have his blood filtered. Physicians said it’s impossible for Chuan to fully recover. He would have to face some after-effects, such as the mental retardation.

Le Phuong Ly, a four year old girl, was also found as having the high lead content at 73.16mg/dl. She was hospitalized for urgent treatment.

Other children, aged 2-3, also had the lead content higher by 6-7 times than the allowed level. They were Do Hoang Gia Bao, 3 years old, with the lead content higher by 5.5 times, Le Gia Bao, 3, and Le Viet Duc, 2, had the lead content higher by 5-6 times.

According to Pham Due from the Bach Mai Hospital, a child with the lead content of 70 mg/dl would suffer the acute cerebral syndrome and other kinds of disorder which lead to fatality.

The future of the craft village

The battery recycling has existed in the Dong Mai hamlet for the last 30 years. In the golden age, 200 households took the job, while there are 60 now.

Nguyen Van Bai, a local resident, said in the past, people went collecting batteries and recycling manually in the village. The chemicals in batteries were discharged to the drying ground, which then flew to the canal and rice fields. Every household then had a recycling workshop, which produced thick smoke every afternoon.

In 2009, the Hung Yen provincial authorities decided to set up an area for industrial production, which covered an area of 2 hectares. The site clearance has not been completed yet, but more than 40 households have moved their workshops there. Over 10 other households still run their workshops in the hamlets.

Tien Phong