Restore Health in Cerro de Pasco

Cerro de Pasco is known for being the highest city on the planet, at 4350 meters over the sea level. But it is also one of the most polluted places on earth. The giant open pit mine that dominate the town since more than 60 years has created enormous environmental and social problems, especially for children and youth.

A reportage made by our photographer Stefano Sbrulli and published by The Washington Post shown what does it mean to live so high up in the Andes, but also what does it mean to live in such polluted area.

Research has shown that Cerro de Pasco “has been excessively contaminated with heavy metals due to high mining activities in the region.” The study, published in the journal Nature, adds that “heavy metals exposure contributes to the development of major diseases such as cancer and respiratory, neurological, and kidney diseases, and eventually drives to death.”

Furthermore, the economic situation of the city has not improved at all: “despite millions of dollars generated by over 400 years of mining exploitation, today Cerro de Pasco is one of the poorest cities in Peru. The health system is almost nonexistent, the educational system is close to collapse … The inhabitants of Cerro de Pasco live in a situation of social and economic exclusions.”

Recent investigations also shown that the IQ of the children of Cerro de Pasco is significantly lower than their peer in the neighboring communities. That investigation also shown the direct link between lead exposure and lower IQ. The pollution of the mine is denying the future of an entire generation. From that the title of Sbrulli’s reportage Donde los niños no sueñan; Where children do not dream.

We just publish our last report on the heavy metals accumulation and the IQ of the children of the communities of Paragsha and José Carlos Mariategui, in the city of Cerro de Pasco.

This is an innovative study that has never been done before in a mining city like Cerro de Pasco. We analyzed the concentration of heavy metals in the hair of the children and we compare it with the Intelligent Quotient. We know that one of the main effects of heavy metals accumulation is the reduction of the development of the brain and therefore the impact on the IQ. So we decided to study if the IQ of the children of Cerro de Pasco is somehow impacted by the heavy metals accumulation.

The results are alarming. 

First of all, after years, the concentration of heavy metals in the body of the children of Cerro de Pasco, remains very high. The concentration of lead in the hair of the children of Cerro is 45 times higher than the European average and 5 times higher than the kids of Carhuamayo, a city nearby with similar conditions. Arsenic is also twice the limit and four times the concentration in the kids of Carhuamayo.

The average IQ of the children of Cerro de Pasco is 12.3 points lower than the average IQ of the children of Carhuamayo. While in Carhuamayo only 6% of the children have an IQ below the national average, in Cerro this percentage is 41%. In Carhuamayo 17.6% of the children have an IQ “normal-high” in comparison with only 1.2% of the children of Paragsha.

The brain develops in the first 6 and half years so all these children have a compromised future. Children who could have the potential to become an engineer will probably struggle in finish the secondary school because of the pollution caused by the mine. We are denying the future to the children of Cerro de Pasco!

Tuesday, March the 2^nd we will present the results in Cerro de Pasco. The municipality of Paragsha will host the event, the regional government and a few congressmen have already confirmed their participation. Our Executive Director Flaviano is already in Cerro de Pasco and he will present the results to the authorities and the population as well.