DERRAME DE PETRÓLEO EN PERÚ AMENAZA LA SALUD
LOS
RIESGOS PARA LA SALUD DE DERRAMES DE PETRÓLEO EN PERÚ TODAVÍA NO ESTAN CLAROS (excerpts from
article by Barbara Fraser, SciDev.Net, Apr.11, 2016) (ENGLISH VERSION BELOW:
Image: peu21.pe
[AMAZONAS/LORETO] A más de dos meses luego de un par de
devastadores derrames de petróleo en la Amazonas Peruana, las comunidades
locales siguen dudando acerca de la seguridad de su agua.
“El miedo no es solo por enfermedades para las
personas, sino para toda la cadena alimentaria”, dice el biólogo Raúl Loayza, jefe
del laboratorio de ecotoxicología de la Universidad peruana Cayetano Heredia en
Lima. “Podrían haber significativos efectos en el largo plazo”. En las semanas siguientes muchos de los que estuvieron en contacto con el agua contaminada se quejaron de dolores de cabeza, náuseas, mareos y lesiones cutáneas, dijeron a SciDev.Net.
A continuación del destre, las autoridades sanitarias locales y regionales se comprometieron a monitorear la salud de los residentes. Pero Loayza advierte que será difícil reconocer problemas en el largo plazo dado a que hay poca información sobre el estado de las personas luego del derrame.
Mientras continúa la tarea de limpieza luego de una
pérdida de cerca de medio millón de litros de petróleo de una tubería de
transporte que llegaron al rio Chiriaco en el Amazonas y el río Morona en
Loreto, una región en el norte del Perú, la población local no sabe si es seguro
bañarse o beber el agua o de ingerir los peces que pescan.
En los
villorrios a lo largo del rio Chiriaco muchas personas, incluyendo niños,
estuvieron expuestos directamente al petróleo que drenó aguas abajo del caño
roto. Cuando los obreros de mantenimiento cavaron para reparar la tubería el 25
de enero ppdo, unos 2.000 barriles (alrededor de 300.000 litros) de crudo
drenaron en el río.
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HEALTH RISK FROM PRUVIAN OIL SPILLS STILL UNCLEAR (excerpts from article by Barbara Fraser, SciDev.Net, Apr.11,
2016)
[AMAZONAS/LORETO]
More than two months after a pair of devastating oil spills in the Peruvian
Amazon, local communities remain unsure about the safety of their water.
While cleanup work continues following the leak of nearly half a million litres of oil from a damaged pipeline into the Chiriaco river in the Amazon and Morona river in Loreto, a region in northern Peru, indigenous people do not know if it is safe to bathe in or drink the water, or eat the fish they catch.
“The fear is not only for people, because of illness, but for the entire food chain,” says biologist Raúl Loayza, who heads the ecotoxicology laboratory at Peru’s Cayetano Heredia University in Lima. “In the long run, there could be a significant effect.”
While cleanup work continues following the leak of nearly half a million litres of oil from a damaged pipeline into the Chiriaco river in the Amazon and Morona river in Loreto, a region in northern Peru, indigenous people do not know if it is safe to bathe in or drink the water, or eat the fish they catch.
“The fear is not only for people, because of illness, but for the entire food chain,” says biologist Raúl Loayza, who heads the ecotoxicology laboratory at Peru’s Cayetano Heredia University in Lima. “In the long run, there could be a significant effect.”
In villages along the Chiriaco, many people, including children, were
directly exposed to oil that washed downstream from a broken pipe. When
maintenance workers dug down to repair the pipe on 25 January, about 2,000
barrels (around 300,000 litres) of crude oil spilled into the river.
Over the next few weeks, many of those who came into contact with contaminated water complained of headaches, nausea, dizziness and skin lesions, local residents told SciDev.Net.
Following the disaster, local and regional health officials pledged to monitor residents’ health, but Loayza warns it could be hard to recognise long-term problems because there is little information about the state of people’s health before the spills. –
Over the next few weeks, many of those who came into contact with contaminated water complained of headaches, nausea, dizziness and skin lesions, local residents told SciDev.Net.
Following the disaster, local and regional health officials pledged to monitor residents’ health, but Loayza warns it could be hard to recognise long-term problems because there is little information about the state of people’s health before the spills. –
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