Lead poisoning fears at factory in Nakuru

Nakuru, Kenya: A ward representative has petitioned the County Assembly to launch investigations into a battery manufacturing company after eight former employees were allegedly found to have acute lead poisoning.

The move by London Ward Rep Francis Njoroge came hours after the Public Health Department ordered a forensic investigation for lead poisoning on the former employees of Xiangui International Battery Factory, which has since been shut down.

Public Health Officer Samuel King’ori yesterday said the workers will undergo further tests in a Government facility to establish the levels of lead in their blood.

The results of the tests should be out in a fortnight and would provide a way forward on the matter that has shocked authorities in the county.

Mr Njoroge, who met with the affected workers in his office yesterday, said the factory was closed down on May 9 and the workers sent home without any benefits.

“My petition to the Assembly is to compel the factory owners to pay for damages and other benefits to the workers,” he said, adding that he had heard reports that the multi-million shilling factory owned by a Chinese investor was to change from manufacturing batteries to another product. “We want to establish if the conversion they are doing is approved, and if the area where people will now be working from is decontaminated, as lead can stay in a place for a long time,” he said.

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concealed results

Some of the workers interviewed said in 2012, the management tested them for lead poisoning after the local Occupational Health and Safety Specialists visited the company and raised concerns. Unfortunately the owners did not reveal the results to them.

“After we were tested, some of the documents we managed to secure from one of the staff in the director’s office showed high levels of lead poisoning in my blood,” said Bernard Kilonzo, a former employee.

Mr Kilonzo, who managed to get this test report, said he had blood lead level of 100 ug/dl, which doctors said was acute.

The medical report obtained by The Standard shows Kilonzo’s blood sample was taken and by Dr F O Omala from Occupational Health and Safety Specialists, and taken to Lancet Kenya Laboratories. Results confirmed Kilonzo had acute levels of lead poisoning in his blood.

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Another former employee, Sibea Nyabony, who filed a case against the management of the lead smelting company, also showed us her report, which indicated she had a raised blood lead level of 74 ug/dl.

In 2013, five dairy cattle belonging to a farmer living in the lower side of Industrial Area where the factory is located died of what veterinary officers said was acute lead poisoning.

A study that was undertaken by the expert on samples of blood, soil and industrial waste also showed they contained high levels of lead.

“The symptoms, results of post-mortem and history of the case were used to establish the diagnosis of acute lead poisoning,” read part of the report tabled before the court in a case between the owner of the animals and the lead recycling company.

The complaint by the workers in Nakuru comes in the wake of closure of a similar factory in Naivasha last month following complaints by local residents over its health impact.

A group of environmentalists and traders had questioned the operations of the company and an Environmental Impact Assessment done by the National Environment Management Authority.