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After Attack, St. Louis University Study Resumes Research of Peru Smelter

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Aug. 17--A St. Louis University-led study of heavy metal contamination in La Oroya, Peru, resumed Tuesday under tighter security, one day after assailants verbally assaulted and lobbed rocks at two of the research teams.

Nobody was physically harmed in Monday's attacks, said Dr. Fernando Serrano, the principal investigator on the one-week visit. Monday was the first day of the field research in the Peruvian town, which is home to a metal smelter operated by a subsidiary of Doe Run Co., which is based in Maryland Heights.

"We have had a good, good response from the population," said Serrano, a researcher at St. Louis University's school of public health. "I don't think these groups represent the majority of the people."

In fact, Serrano said, people in the Andean town of about 30,000 are opening their doors to the eight research teams and some are even seeking out the researchers to ask to be part of the tests. If calls to a local radio talk show were any indication, he said, local residents found the aggression "totally unacceptable."

Jeffrey L. Zelms, president and chief executive officer of Doe Run, said in a statement that the company respects the St. Louis University study and supports "constructive dialogue and peaceful interaction." He encouraged all those involved to do the same.

"We condemn violence in all its forms," he said in the one-page statement.

Doe Run spokeswoman Barbara Shepard said there is no reason to believe that anyone involved in Monday's incident was a Doe Run employee. The plant is a major employer in the city.

Researchers are going door-to-door to look for the presence of about 16 heavy metals, including lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury, Serrano said. The team is collecting blood samples, taking dust swipes inside homes, analyzing paint for lead content and testing drinking water.

Through Tuesday afternoon, the eight teams had been to more than 100 homes, Serrano said. Samples will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for lab analysis.

Later in the week, the group will take samples from Concepcion, a smaller Peruvian city that does not have a metallurgical plant, Serrano said. Samples taken there will be treated as a control group to compare with the results of the La Oroya tests.

Past studies have shown high levels of lead poisoning among young children in La Oroya.

Smelting activities in the town date to the early 1920s. Before Doe Run acquired the lead, copper and zinc plant in 1997, it was operated for more than two decades by the government-owned Centromin company.

The work was going well on Tuesday, Serrano said. Research teams made sure there were police around and stayed in contact with local authorities.

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Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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