The 2,500 residents of the three neighborhoods closest to the plant, which has been operating for 18 years, first approached government authorities in 1993. An analysis of the air in their neighborhoods showed more than 20 times the maximum concentration of lead permitted by WHO standards. He called on its owners to provide medical help for the victims, who cannot be treated while still exposed to the pollution. Iberia representative Jorge Mario Aguilar, who visited Congress yesterday, said the parents' claims are false and denied that the plant continues working. The symptoms of chronic lead poisoning include learning difficulties, behavioral problems, appetite loss, lethargy, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Exposure can also lead to brain disease and convulsions.
One third of children who suffer from brain disease have permanent nerve damage. Protection Demanded for Families in Bamaca Case Guatemala City, February 15. Bamaca's wife, U.S. lawyer Jennifer Harbury came to Guatemala last November to escort the pair to the United States. Both men say they are former URNG members who were captured by the Guatemalan army in the 1980s and held for nearly ten years. Each was reportedly forced to work for military intelligence, or G2, and obliged to give information to an internal military death squad.