When Children Become Victims

· 5 minutes read

At almost 11 years old, ASF looks more like a five-year-old than a preteen. ASF’s older sibling, AN, 12, often shows the childish behavior of paying attention only to the things he likes. AN often has seizures, a common symptom of lead poisoning.

ASF and AN are just two of the many children in Cinangka village, Ciampea district, Bogor, West Java, whose behaviors are similar to those suffering from mental impairments. Many children in the village also have their hands twisting inwards, another common indication of lead contamination in their blood.

Since 1978, Cinangka has been an illegal and traditional used battery smelting center. Many smelters have no dust collector and lead dust from the smelting pollutes the village.

ASF’s and AN’s blood samples contain significant amount of lead, reaching twice the tolerance limit of 10 micrograms/deciliter. A lab test in Bogor found that ASF’s blood sample has a lead concentration of 25.3 micrograms/deciliter. Meanwhile, AN’s blood sample has a lead concentration of 23.3 micrograms/deciliter.

Both AN and ASF cannot read or white. ASF has a much smaller body than his little sibling AU, 8, currently a third grader.

Never recovered

Their father Iswandi, 46, said out of his five children, only AN and ASF had different behavior. His other two children AU, 8, and AR, 16, go to school like any other children. His youngest child, meanwhile, is only 15 months old. “AN wants to go to school like his oldest sibling AR, 16, who is now in high school. However, he cannot do it. Furthermore, he often has seizures,” he said.

Iswandi said AN can have seizures up to three times a week. Sometimes, he even has it two to three times a day. AN first had a seizure when he was 2 years old and has never recovered since.

RD, 12, another child in Cinangka with behavior similar to mental impairment, can only lay down on the floor. To move, RD must be carried by his father Rizal, 36, or mother Yatni, 32.

RD cannot speak clearly and can only make certain sounds. His head and bones are small – much smaller than other children of his age.

Similar to AN, RD often has seizures. He often bangs his body against the wall. “The wounds on his mouth, head and body is because he often hurts himself when he has seizures. He often bangs his body against the wall,” Rizal said.

RD’s blood sample has a lead concentration of 13.8 micrograms/deciliter.

Apart from children, many adults in Cinangka also show similar symptoms. NR, now 28, has often had seizures since she was just 18 months old. She could only sit silently while hugging her blackening knees tightly to her chest in a corner in her home. NR’s head and body is much smaller than other persons of her age.

NR was silently staring at her mother RH, 53, who was sharing the story of her daughter’s health condition. RH said that NR, her youngest daughter, had difficulties in interacting and communicating with others. She is easily angered and offended.

“She can have seizures twice a month,” RH said.

RH, a mother of four, said that she and her husband had worked at a local used battery smelter since 1978. RH provides food for workers while her husband works as a smelter.

With her husband’s knowledge in used battery smelting, RH said that the couple opened their own used battery smelter in their backyard in 1990. The same year, NR was born. “The smoke entered the house [through the ventilation]. However, Alhamdulillah [Praise God], [my other three children] are healthy. Only NR has the sickness,” RH said.

Successive deaths

MA, 53, a former used battery collector in Cinangka, said that used battery smelters flourished in the village between 1978 and 2002. However, since the successive deaths of 10 smelting workers in a year in 2002, locals began to leave the job. “Those who died had worked at used battery smelters. Their deaths made locals worried. Furthermore, since 2000, many children here are suffering from [mental] impairments,” he said.

Researcher Budi Haryanto of the University of Indonesia’s School of Public Health said that Cinangka had not changed over the years, with its children endlessly exposed to lead poisoning from used battery smelting. Budi said that lead pollution endangered children as it disrupted their central nervous system and red blood cell regeneration. Symptoms include seizures, a neurological disorder that disables the brain from managing nerves and resulting in hands twisting inwards as well as reduced intelligence. “Child growth is disrupted,” he said.

Executive director Ahmad Safrudin of the Committee for the Phasing Out of Leaded Fuel (KPBB) said that, since 2015, the committee and Cinangka villagers had urged the government to provide medical care for lead-contaminated children. However, there has been no follow up. “[The government] has promised to give medical care to the children under BPJS Kesehatan [the Healthcare and Social Security Agency] but no concrete actions have been taken,” he said. (MDN/ILO/BKY/ADY/INK

Editor:

investigative report