Abstract: The city of La Oroya’s, population is about 35,000 residents whose economy depends on one company Doe Run, that is creating health and environmental problems all around its surroundings, by releasing poisonous chemicals such as lead, sulfur dioxide, arsenic, cadmium, antimony, copper, and zinc. The environment is suffering the consequences from the emissions of smelter that causes acid rain and makes it almost impossible for vegetation to survive and animals to feed themselves. In addition, the smelter emits heavy black smoke consisting of “1.5 tons of lead and 810 tons of sulfur dioxide on a daily basis,” (Salazar, 1) into to the atmosphere. This kind of air pollution affects 99% of children since they are under the age of six and are still developing physically and mentally; this includes pregnant women. As a result, parents are faced with difficult decision between their child’s health and having job to survive.

Several programs such as “Program of Adaptation and Environmental Handling” have been put into place to help reduce the detrimental effect air pollution has on La Oroya’s residents.
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Since 1922, the adults and children in the small mining town of La Oroya have “been exposed to toxic emissions emitted from the local factory that specializes in poly-metallic-smelter,” (Blacksmith Institute, 21). What are the toxic substances? Located in the Peruvian Andes, roughly 112 miles from Lima, La Oroya is considered one of the most polluted towns in the world according to who?; mainly due to the fact that the smelter factory (which has been owned by the Doe Run Corporation, an American company based on out of St. Louis, since 1997) pumps out a heavy black smoke consisting of “1.5 tons of lead and 810 tons of sulfur dioxide on a daily basis,” (Salazar, 1). There are up to 20 metals, including copper, lead and zinc, being processed in this plant, creating this pollution what kind of pollution? and is the leading cause of the major respiratory and health problems what health problems? that plague the people of La Oroya. In fact, the National Environment Commission of Peru confirmed that the smelter process going on inside the Doe Run-Peru factory “is the source of 99 percent of the toxic emissions that people inhale in this town,” (Salazar, 1). An air pollution that is so bad that it has been reported that the smog has been known to sting the eyes and throats of people visiting the area who aren’t no contractions. use to the poor air quality. Describe what the air quality is like. You never did so. And because of this pollution, the people of the town suffer from a wide variety of ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, lead poisoning, and even heart disease. In fact, according to epidemiological studies, conducted by the Health Ministries in 2004 and 2005, roughly “fifty percent of children in the region of Junín, where La Oroya is located, suffered from asthma,” (Salazar. 1).
Furthermore, different medical studies (conducted in 1999, 2003, and 2005) found that “virtually all children under the age of six had blood lead levels exceeding 10 micrograms per decilitre of blood (mcg/dl),” (Salazar, 1). These high levels have been known to cause lead poisoning, which inhibits neurological development in children, with lifelong effects such as damage to the brain and nervous system. Says who? Lead poisoning also affects behavior and creates “learning problems, such as hyperactivity, while slowing the rate of growth. It has also been known to cause hearing problems and headaches,” (Salazar, 1). However, the pollution not only affects the health of the people, it also affects the surrounding environment. “Acid rain, caused by the toxins released into the atmosphere, has damaged the soil of the land to the point where it is virtually impossible for farming,” (Salazar, 1). In most of the area, the heavy pollution has caused major contamination to the soil which makes farming nearly impossible. Unfortunately, this leaves most of the 35,000 residents in the town of La Oroya left to rely on the factory for work, creating a Catch-22 situation: in order for the people and the local economy to survive, they need the factory open; however, this same factory also puts the entire population of La Oroya health at risk.
The toxins that pose the most health hazards to the people from La Oroya, Peru are Lead, sulfur dioxide, arsenic, cadmium, antimony, copper, zinc. These toxins are release as admission into the air as a result smelter process. These toxins are pump out as heavy black smoke loaded with 1.5 tons of lead and 810 tons of sulfur dioxide every day and other toxic emissions (Salazar, 1). These toxins fill the air and spread all over La Oroya and across other surrounding cities in Peru. These tiny polluted dust particles falls on playgrounds, houses, toys and all over the ground. Everything is contaminated by the toxic polluted smokes that fall on everything. They fall and the people and animals absorb the toxins from the air, soil and water. Air Pollution is causing health problems such as asthma, bronchitis, lead poisoning, heart disease and lung cancer (Cantone and others , 2006). Children and Fetuses are the most at danger. They are expose to heavy polluted air every day. Children are more at danger for the reason that they spend more time exercising or playing outside and their bodies are still developing therefore the pollutants have greater affect on the children. Children and fetus are more at risk for developing health hazards like lead poisoning, asthma, and cancer, (Perera, 2008).
The biggest health hazard in La Oroya for children and adults is lead poisoning. This was mentioned earlier. Linkage broken. Reorganize to flow better with the previous section. Children and Fetuses are the most at danger. They are expose to heavy air pollution and pollutants every day. Children under the age of six are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning because the toxins can severely affect mental and physical development. Of La Oroya’s 12,000 children, 99 percent have blood lead levels of lead that exceed acceptable limits (Perera, 2008). The children and adults breathe lead into their system and it slowly builds up. Lead poisoning occurs when lead collects in the body. It damages the nervous system and the blood’s hemoglobin. When children are expose to lead it is more dangerous for the reason that their body and brain is still developing and there is a greater probability of permanent neurological damage. This can lead to decreased intelligence, short-term memory loss, reading under-achievement, impairment of visual-motor function, loss of auditory memory, poor perceptual integration, poor classroom behavior, and impaired reaction time (Herman and others, 2006). Lead is also a health hazard for unborn babies. Lead is stored in the bone of pregnant women and can be passed on to the unborn baby. Lead poisoning interferes with bone formation by blocking absorption of calcium and affects memory storage and damages cells of the nervous system. Some of the symptoms of lead poisoning are poor muscle coordination, developmental delay, speech problems, decrease muscle growth and damage the nervous system (Herman and others, 2006).
Another toxin that is release as a gas by the smelter process is sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide is having a significant impact on the health of the people from La Oroya. Inhaling sulfur dioxide is linked with increased respiratory problems and difficulty in breathing. It can cause asthma,headaches, and throat irritations. Humans can become seriously ill and may die from the effects of acid rain. It makes it difficult to breathe especially for people that have asthma (Cantone and others , 2006). The concentration of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere creates acid rain.Acid rain damagse the landand affects the habitat of plants and animal life. Acid rain damages lakes streams and vegetation that animals and humans depend on. The plants are important because humans need the plants to eat and to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Another toxins that is release as emissions from the smelter is Arsenic. Arsenic is toxic gas that is created from copper and steel smelting plants. Arsenic poisoning causes the body to decrease the production of red and blood levels. This changes the skin and damages the lungs and stomach. Arsenic may cause the development of cancer in the skin and lungs. It can cause miscarriages, infertility, skin disruptions, loss of immunity to infection and brain damage. (Xi and others, 2011). Children in La Oroya, are impacted by ”Pollution from the mining and processing operations of Doe Run Peru has led to dangerously high concentrations of lead in children's blood in La Oroya.” Blacksmith Institute 2007. Causing children to develop mental and physical deficiencies that are not reversible including babies who are in there mother’s womb. As a result, children have trouble remembering what they have just studied and suffer from health problems such as asthma. So, what’s the injustice? You don’t explain the cause. You only explain the consequences.

A significant amount has already been done to help decrease the air pollution in La Oroya; local environmental organizations, the Peruvian government, community activist, researchers, and even Doe Run have made an effort to improve the air quality. With all the improvements and support to clean the air in La Oroya, the polluted air continues to cause damaging health affects to the people of La Oroya.
A study conducted by researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health with the help from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, private industries such as NITON, and from the help of archdiocese of Huancayo, Peru, and Monsignor Pedro Barreto, helped bring the issue of La Oroya’s devastating air pollution to the forefront, and also helped link the negative health effects to the emissions coming out of the smelter by using scientific evidence. On the day the researchers first arrived to La Oroya they were greeted by an angry mob, they blocked their entrance to the neighborhood and throw rocks, fruits and eggs at them (Otto, 2007); the residents of La Oroya were fearful the results from the study would cause the smelter to be shut down. To their surprise when they began their research the next day, the people of La Oroya where open to be tested, they wanted to know how the air pollution has affected their own health and especially that of their children. The results of the study found “Children between birth and 6 years of age had an average blood lead level of 36.1 mg/dL, and kids 9-12 had a blood lead level of 32.4, more than three times the recommended limit set by the World Health Organizations (Otto, 2007). This study was significant because it was cited by the highest Peruvian court to mandate the Ministry of health to adopt an emergency measures plan to protect the health of the people of La Oroya, forced the Peruvian government to closely monitor the smelter, and brought international media attention to the problem (Otto, 2007).
The Peruvian government’s national environmental council (CONAM) came up with the Contingency Plan for States of Alert. The plan is to alert the people of La Oroya if there are high levels of pollutants in the air and recommends those who are most vulnerable to the harmful effects (such as pregnant women, the elderly, and young children) of the pollutants to stay indoors. “CONAM regional coordinator Carlos Rojas told Tierramerica there will be three levels of alert: watch, danger and emergency, according to which actions will be taken to limit the exposure of the affected population and partially half two productions lines of lead and copper at Doe Run” (Salazar, 2007). On days when the air is highly polluted, citizens are advised to where mask to cover their nose and mouth. The citizens of La Oroya are scared of wearing a mask because they believe it would send a negative message to outsiders and as a result tourism would decrease.
One of roadblocks to the cleaning process is the people of La Oroya. They are fearful of the complex being shut down because a majority of the population depends on the complex to provide them with jobs and in return be able to provide for their families.“The economy still revolves around the smelter, which employs about 3500 people directly” (Fraser, 2009), and many others work in jobs that provided services for the smelter. The government is aware of the severe air pollution in La Oroya; the Peruvian government included the city in 2001 in its list of 13 most polluted cities in Peru but even with this knowledge the Peruvian government has never considered permanently closing down the smelter (Salazar, 2006). Even if the government was to seriously close down the smelter it would be met with protest from the majority of the people from La Oroya. In December 2004 citizens protested when the smelter threaten to shut down if the government did not extend their environmental plan (Salazar, 2006).
Doe Run was legally obligated by the Peruvian government to come up with a comprehensive environmental plan that would reduce the smelters emissions and help it stay under the government's environmental regulations and laws. The plan was called “Program of Adaptation and Environmental Handling”, it consisted of 9 projects, with a foresight of 10 years for it to be completed. In 2006, 8 out of 9 projects have been completed (Wilson, 2008). The 9 projects are the handling of copper and lead slag, arsenic trioxide deposit, conditioning of the ferrites deposit, environmental adjustment of the Huanchan slag deposit, household waste and sewage, treatment of industrial liquid effluents, bleed off treatment in the copper refinery, monitoring stations and aerial photography and the last project is the construction of the cooper acid plant and cooper change; Doe Run has claimed to have invested 313 million dollars on these projects ("Doe run peru's," 2011). Some other upgrades to the Doe Run smelter, that have been implemented in order to improve air quality include: the introduction of oxygen to the furnaces, upgrading the electrostatic precipitator, the closure of the zinc roasters, new ventilation systems in the precious metal refinery, new baghouses, enclosing the process areas, and paving the dirt roads (Wilson, 2008). Doe Run had also implemented and sponsored various programs to help reduce the detrimental health effects the air pollution has on the citizens.
One of the programs includes the refurbishing of highly contaminated houses. Each year approximately 25 houses are refurbished since many of them were built on dirt that had been contaminated (Wilson, 2008); the houses in Antigua La Oroya are the first to be refurbished since they are the most contaminated. “During a house refurbishment, all the internal walls are placed or re-surfaced with lead free plaster, the floors are paved and where possible sanitation and potable water are installed” (Wilson, 2008). Doe Run also sponsors another program along with The Peruvian Ministry of Health that sends children with highest levels of lead in the blood stream 30 minutes away to a nursery in Casaracra. The children stay there for eight hours, and receive care and assistance from nursery teachers, psychologists, nutritionist, social care workers, and pediatricians (Wilson, 2008). The program was design to help the children reduce their lead levels as well as to give them an education and improve their overall health (Wilson, 2008). The program has 100 children enrolled in the program and Doe Run also provides other 250 meals to children who do not attend the nursery (Wilson, 2008). Doe Run also has a program that deals with promoting hygiene, called the Environmental Hygiene and Health Program (HYSA). The program was design to promote health and hygienic habits that would help reduce the exposure to lead, activities included in the program are, household hygiene, environmental health in schools, cleaning campaigns in neighborhoods, educating children about being hygienic, and training individuals to become hygiene leaders in their respective neighborhood ("The corporate social," 2011).
Even though programs such as the nursery in Casaracra have been successful in elevating the damage caused by the air pollution to the children's health, “no one knows how much long-term damage has been done to La Oroya’s children...” (Fraser, 2009). Many of its citizens would rather not believe their livelihood is causing their children to become sick, many others believe the smelter is the cause of the harmful health effects but believe they have no other choice but to live with it because they cannot afford not having a job. The battle continues “between jobs and a healthy environment” (Fraser, 2009). The inhabitants of La Oroya rely on the Doe Run to support their families financially but their jobs come with the expense of detrimental health affects to them and their family placing them ultimately in a lose-lose situation.
5) Oroya will continue to deteriorate as a community unless there are drastic changes to aid the health and quality of life for the Peruvian citizens. Research shows that the contaminants, like lead will continue to aggravate the health of the families in La Oroya. Even if the whole population were to evacuate the city, years later there would still be toxins in the air and land. The only way for there to be a cure is to find solutions that will help the city recuperate in the long-term. Doe Run has to both lower the emissions they let out or leave the city in full, and instead increase the resources citizens need. Like the rest of Peru that also faces air pollution due to car emissions, the country’s capital of Lima has found alternatives to make the air cleaner to breath. Since planting real trees, would not work because they would not withstand the environment they would live in. They have invented an air-filtering device known as the “Super Tree”. The Super Tree acts like 1200 real trees, purifies the air for approximately 20,000 people a day, at the cost of $6. (Novey, 2009) In the city of La Oroya they should provide a similar alternative. The government or Doe Run Corporation should provide air-filtering systems for the residents of La Oroya. If people have to tolerate the air they’re living in outside, then they should be able to have clean air to breath in the comfort of their homes. In Lima the company Tierra Nuestra (Our Earth) were the ones to fund these machines, and in La Ororya Doe Run should sponsor similar filters either for the streets or the home.
Doe Run Corporation has worked on their environmental management plan for the processing plant over the years, even at times asking for extensions when they were not able to deliver. They are the root of the problem and need to fulfill their duties, as the one’s responsible by providing more services to the community in La Oroya. The residents need health care services and more programs for the children being affected. (Burpee, 2007) Doe Run is ruining the future of these children and will not be able to have successful careers for the situation they have to face in La Oroya. Doe Run can also find Alternative to how they operate in making their metals
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called for an “integrated intervention plan to reduce exposure to lead and other contaminants” in La Oroya, designed with the participation of health agencies, government officials, local residents, and the company. (Fraser, 2006) Although emissions in La Oroya have since been reduced there is a lot more the U.S. run corporation could do to keep their workers and families safe. Doe run is the major player in this scenario, their owner Ira Rennert has billions to spend on a home, but cannot manage to consider the lives of the people he is affecting with his smelting company.
We cannot solve the problems of La Oroya without looking at how globalization and poverty have affected the life of the community. Global health problems can’t be solved by concerned physicians alone, they also require government policies. (Villafuerte-Gálvez, 2007) The Global policies that do exist are not enough regulation for this city. Low-income communities like La Oroya need more protection because they don’t have the resources to campaign and fight a huge corporation like Doe Run. The Peruvian government should propose more laws that would prevent Doe Run from polluting the air to extremes.
The families of La Oroya will continue to put their health at risk unless they leave the city or Doe Run leaves. Although many depend on them for work, if the Peru government provides other job alternatives the Oroya community will be able to recuperate their health. The children growing up in this environment will not have to further tolerate this injustice. If Doe Run wants to continue polluting the city in mass amounts they should buy out the whole city and compensate the people so they could relocate out of the city, and out of the pollution.