Blood tests urged for Mt Isa children

More children are expected to show lead contamination in a new round of tests in the
mining town of Mount Isa, a lawyer representing affected local children says.
Queensland Health on Saturday urged parents of children aged between one and four in
the northwest Queensland city to make use of free blood tests to check their
children's lead levels.
Data from the tests will be used in a follow-up survey to determine the risk of lead
exposure in at least 144 children.
Lawyer Damian Scattini, whose firm Slater and Gordon is gathering medical evidence
on behalf of seven Mt Isa children, said the government must take serious action.
He said previous tests had found unacceptable levels of lead in young children and
he expected to see the same result again.
"To show the absurdity of this, if you were to substitute the word asbestos for lead
and say you were monitoring the levels of asbestos in children, there would be
outrage," he told AAP on Saturday.
"The lead in the dust is coming from the mine."
Mr Scattini's comments come in light of reports that Xstrata may be forced to shut
down its Mount Isa mine after excessive lead levels were recorded in the region.
Betty Kiernan, chair of the Living with Lead Alliance and Labor state MP for Mt Isa,
said Queensland Health's 2010 Blood Level Survey would play an important role in
keeping the local community informed.
"It is aimed at all children, not just those previously tested (in 2006/07)," she
said in a statement on Saturday.
Tropical Regional Services senior director Brad McCulloch said it was essential for
QH to monitor lead levels in children to prevent harmful effects on intellectual
development.
"Lead exposure risk factors will be identified for the children whose blood lead
levels are at notifiable level and above," he said in statement.
"As soon as any elevated lead results become known, Queensland Health will actively
case-manage these children and assist their families to bring those levels down."
Mr McCulloch said haemoglobin testing would also be offered as part of the survey,
with no extra blood to be taken from the child and at no cost to local residents.
"Without blood lead monitoring we cannot assess whether what we are doing is
working," Mr McCulloch said.
Xstrata has been given until Monday to explain why one of the company's five air
sampling stations found lead levels exceeded regulatory limits over three months.
On Friday, Environment Minister Kate Jones said her department was prepared to
prosecute the mining giant.
"If on Monday, Xstrata's explanation doesn't stack up, then under the law in
Queensland there are a number of enforcement actions the department can and will
pursue," she said, adding that Xstrata could face fines of up to $2 million under
the Environmental Protection Act.
The survey is expected to take five months and the report filed later this year.