The growing concern of the City Council and the residents of Sant Julià de Llor i Bonmatí (Selva) about the activity of an industry dedicated to the recycling of batteries, established about 50 meters from some houses in the municipality, has forced Salut to analyze lead in the blood of children under 14 and pregnant women, vulnerable groups who can absorb between four and five times more of this component than the rest of the adults. A fact that can affect their cognitive development.
Yesterday the first blood extractions took place, a process that will last, in principle, until this Thursday. At the moment, a total of 106 children, most between 7 and 14 years old, and two pregnant women have been registered. But the target population for which these tests are directed is much larger. There are 226 children up to the age of 14 registered in the municipality, so the Consistory and Health make an appeal in order to have an x-ray of the results as complete as possible. Along with the analysis, minors and their families are asked about their eating habits and lifestyle, since there are other factors that can cause the presence of lead in the blood such as tobacco smoke, paints, toys, cosmetics or drinking water pipes.
The request for analyzes to determine if there is any relationship with industrial activity and the blood lead index of the population is not at all new. In 2018, the Bonmatí civic platform, enough pollution! already formally demanded in writing analyzes for the entire population. “Our concern is more than justified, we simply want to know what it is that we breathe”, says Pere Bagué, a member of this platform who regrets that it has taken so many years to authorize the tests. The collective has denounced on multiple occasions the stench and noise generated by the activity, especially in the early hours of the morning. The most affected are the residents of the Massana housing estate, the closest to the factory. “Sometimes the stench is so unbearable that you have to close the windows and doors”, said a resident of this area yesterday. A situation – he says – that has worsened since the multinational Exide took over the reins of the factory in 2007. Lead smelting dates back to 1962, and batteries were included in 1964. In 1980, the activity of crushing, washing and drying battery casings began.
The acting mayor of Sant Julià de Llor i Bonmatí, Marc Garcia, explains that when the wind blows many people complain of a strong “metallic stench” and irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. “We simply want to be sure that it doesn’t harm us,” says Garcia, and he was critical of an activity that “I’m sure would no longer be near a city like Girona, but since we’re a small town… “. Garcia also demanded from the Generalitat a fixed meter that analyzes the town’s air 24 hours a day.
Sources from the Generalitat point out that the data on the air quality of Bonmatí that they currently monitor have so far not detected “worrying results” nor do they show “significant differences” with the rest of Catalonia.
