Industrias Zi, a lead recycler, says that it is responsible for the lead contamination found in a recent study of a Haina community, and it promises to clean up the contaminated soil in line with recommendations of technical experts. Juan Arturo Biaggi, Administrator of Industrias Zi, said that it was his firm, not Baterías Metereo as originally reported by the daily El Siglo, that contaminated the soil in Paraíso de Dios. Baterías Metereo was simply one of Zi’s clients, and bears no blame for the mess, Biaggi said. The contamination occurred despite the fact that Industrias Zi tried to avoid through the use of special filters. The filters proved inadequate to the task. On Wednesday the Chemical Institute of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) found alarming levels of lead contamination in Paraíso de Dios. The study found lead levels in the blood of inhabitants of over 100 parts per million (ppm), whereas "normal" levels in children are considered to be 10 ppm and for adults 20 ppm. The study found birth deformities, eye damage, learning and personality disorders, and in some cases, death from lead poisoning. Yesterday members of the Chamber of Deputies’ Health Committee called on the Public Health Ministry to immediately move the 3,000 affected inhabitants out of the contaminated zone.
