The Bolivian community fears dying from arsenic in the blood

“It is certain that we will die” Miguel Machaca regretted it, after learning that he had arsenic in his blood from consuming contaminated water. The community in Bolivia blames mining for pollution, that’s why they decided to fight in court, and thus stop the damage to the environment that poisons them.

In the San Agustín de Puñaca ayllo, in the mountainous department of Oruro, there are about 400 families, most of them dedicated to livestock or agriculture, like Miguel, and in recent years their members feel body pains, dizziness and even numbness that they attribute to the contaminated water they consume from nearby rivers.

Desperate, community members went to the Cetox laboratory in Peru, in collaboration with the Poopó Health Center and the Andean Communication and Development Center (Cenda), to take blood and urine samples for heavy metals.

Miguel is one of 20 residents who were sampled in September, and his results show that you have a “high” level of arsenic in your blood, 100% of the tests showed arsenic concentrations in the range between 17.6 and 215.64 micrograms per liter when the limit referred to by the European Union (EU) is 15 micrograms.

These concentrations “they are 10 to 15 times higher” than the limit set by the EU, which is a “threat to public health”, since they also discovered the presence of lead in the blood of four people and cadmium in two, the person in charge of research in Cenda, Luis Vildoso, explained to EFE.

The World Health Organization classifies arsenic and cadmium as carcinogens, and lead as a possible carcinogen.

“It is certain that we will die with this pollution, a lot of things have already advanced, it hurts us a lot, it makes us angry sometimes, what will we do, we are surely going to die, but so are our livestock, which are also dying,” Miguel told EFE.

Arsenic poisoning
The population is supplied with water from rivers, such as the Desaguadero, which is currently dry but has “copajira” or sewage flowing with chemical residues or heavy metals that it releases nearby mining cooperatives. Community members use this liquid to feed animals or for their own consumption, they know the water is polluted, but they say they have no other choice.

In some places, the water comes in an orange color due to heavy metals and a “spicy” taste, Benita Lima (73), who has difficulty walking and has back, kidney and kidney pain, told EFE. constantly in my head.

Cornelia Ramírez, 54 years old, goes to a well with brown water and salinity every day. She feeds her animals with that liquid so they don’t die of thirst, but they end up dying from contamination, the women commented.

Cornelia also had arsenic in her blood and suffers from it headaches, vomiting and sometimes blurred visionso she asks to be examined by a doctor to see if her health has already deteriorated badly, she admitted that she is afraid of death.

“Do not eat the kidneys and entrails of animals because they can be infected”, “boil the water you will consume”, “eat cooked food and preferably vegetables”, are some of the doctor’s advice, but what kind of water? the issue of residents who are also affected by the drought that Bolivia is going through.

Legal fight
In 2021, Ayllu presented a popular action to the Departmental Court of Justice in Orur. The court initially rejected the lawsuit, but ayllu appealed and forced the Constitutional Council of the Court of Justice to order the Bolivian authorities to conduct a study on the quality of the water to determine whether it is suitable for consumption, lawyer Teodoro Blanco explained to EFE.

This research carried out in seven points indicates that the water “they need treatment so they can drink” but that “there is no external man-made contamination”, which the residents rejected and filed a complaint with the Multinational Constitutional Court where they added “convincing” laboratory results showing contamination and awaiting its approval. pronouncement.