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 LA OROYA, Peru (AP) - Yanina Gabriel's son started kindergarten this year, but she says the prospects for his educational future are as bleak as this smoke-choked town that shares its air with a U.S.-owned metal smelter.
"My little 5-year-old boy has been diagnosed with a high level of lead in his blood," the 24-year-old said. "The teachers have already said he won't be able to pay attention as normal children do."
"We are always coughing, with constant stomach pain, and eyes hurting," said Gabriel, standing on the porch of her adobe house, overlooking the smelter that dominates this Andean town. From the smoke stack, a dusty cloud containing lead, sulfur dioxide, cadmium and arsenic billowed into the sky.
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