Toxic Site Identification Program in Kenya Award: DCI-ENV/2015/371157 Prepared by: Judith St. Fort Prepared for: UNIDO Date: October 2018 Pure Earth 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 860 New York, NY, USA +1 212 647 8330 www.pureearth.org TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS ...............................................................................................................................I LIST OF ANNEXES...................................................................................................................................I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 1 BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................................... 2 TOXIC SITE IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM (TSIP) ............................................................................... 3 TSIP TRAINING .............................................................................................................................. 3 IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY/COORDINATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT ................................ 3 PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES ............................................................................... 4 SUMMARY OF SITES ASSESSED ........................................................................................................ 5 GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE AND POLLUTANT COMPOSITION OF IDENTIFIED SITES.................. 6 REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF KEY POLLUTANTS IDENTIFIED ....................................................... 7 SUMMARY OF KEY RESULTS .............................................................................................................. 9 HEALTH RISKS IDENTIFIED AND OTHER CONCERNS IDENTIFIED DURING SITES ASSESSMENTS .......... 9 POLLUTANTS, SOURCES AND HEALTH IMPACTS ............................................................................... 10 CHROMIUM ..................................................................................................................................... 10 LEAD .............................................................................................................................................. 10 ARSENIC ......................................................................................................................................... 10 MERCURY ....................................................................................................................................... 11 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT ............................................................................. 12 Pure Earth 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 860 New York, NY, USA +1 212 647 8330 www.pureearth.org LIST OF ACRONYMS EC - European Commission ISS - Initial Site Screening LMICs - Low and Middle-Income Countries MoH - Ministry of Health MoM - Ministry of Mining NEMA - National Environment Management Authority PE - Pure Earth TSIP - Toxic Sites Identification Program ULAB - Used Lead-Acid Battery UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development Organization WB - World Bank XRF - Alpha X-Ray Fluorescence LIST OF ANNEXES Annex 1: Annex 1- Lead Contamination in Mombasa, Kenya- Abstract Annex 1A: Annex 1A - Lead Contamination in Mombasa, Kenya - DRAFT PAPER Annex 2: List of Pollutants Annex 3: List of TSIP Sites in Kenya Pure Earth 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 860 New York, NY, USA +1 212 647 8330 www.pureearth.org i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This activities described in this report were supported by the European Commission and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization project "Mitigating Toxic Health Exposures in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: Global Alliance on Health and Pollution” (DCI-ENV/2015/371157). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Pure Earth (PE) is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to solving pollution problems in low and middle-income countries. Since 2009 PE has been implementing the Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP) in Kenya, which is an effort to identify and screen contaminated sites in low and middle-income countries where public health is at risk. TSIP has been supported by The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), European Commission (EC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Bank (WB), and Green Cross Switzerland. The contaminated sites in Kenya were identified by trained investigators drawn from universities in Kenya, using the Initial Site Screening (ISS) protocol. The ISS identifies major elements of a contaminated site, including estimated population at risk, key pollutant information, human exposure pathway data and sampling data. To date, a total of 132 sites located in 8 regions, namely Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area, North-Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western, have been identified using the ISS protocol. Investigators collected soil samples and measured levels of toxicity using an Alpha Xray Fluorescence (XRF) instrument. Sources of pollution included: mining, agriculture, used lead acid battery (ULAB) recycling, and dumpsites. Various key pollutants included lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, PCBs, pesticides, and VOCs. Of these pollutants, lead was found in 61% of the sites, arsenic in 19%, elemental mercury in 8%, chromium in 4%, cadmium in 3%, chromium (Hex) in 1%, VOCs in 1%, PCBs in 1%, pesticides in 1%, and other pollutants in 1%. In partnership with UNIDO and the EC, of the 132 sites assessed to date, 15 initial site screenings were conducted in 2016 (See Table 3). The following pollutants were identified: lead (7); chromium (2); mercury (1); arsenic (5); estimated to put a total of 384,352 people at risk for exposure. The concentrations of lead at the sites ranged from 193 to 100,000 ppm, which translates to great risks to human health. Arsenic was present in 3 artisanal gold mining sites (2 in Rift Valley and 1 in Nyanza). In the Western region, lead concentrations Pure Earth 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 860 New York, NY, USA +1 212 647 8330 www.pureearth.org 1 ranged from 25,500 to 60,000 ppm, resulting in a Blacksmith Index score of 6 and 7 respectively, well above Blacksmith’s recommended standards. Chromium (Hex) was present at one site in Nairobi with concentrations ranging from 872 ppm to 4,021 ppm. Elemental mercury in Nyanza had concentrations of 4.3 and 5.49 ppm. These assessments showed that in addition to lead exposures from ULAB recycling operations, other sources of contamination also pose great risks to human health throughout the country. This report provides the following recommendations to the Government of Kenya: • Conduct detailed assessments for sites displaying high concentrations of pollutants in order to better understand the distribution and magnitude of contamination, and to develop feasible and cost-effective remediation plans to address identified problems • Continue to use the ISS protocol to identify and assess additional sites in order to determine locations of contaminated sites in all seven regions of the country • Create a national assessment/inventory program based on the TSIP protocol • Continue to use the data in the existing TSIP database (www.contaminatedsites.org) to make informed decisions about solving the country’s pollution problems • Conduct needs assessments to determine internal capacity and to identify priority areas BACKGROUND Kenya has one of the most dynamic economies in Africa, yet it is facing a number of pressing economic, environmental, and social challenges. Natural resource depletion, environmental pollution, high poverty rates, and rising unemployment threaten the country’s ability to prosper. Human activities and settlements have brought unprecedented disruption to Kenya’s ecosystems. In addition, the sources of pollution from e-waste and industries that generate e- waste, such as manufacturers and distributors of electrical and electronic equipment, are increasing. The country’s economy is highly dependent on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, hydroelectric energy generation, and tourism. The informal sector, which employs some eighty percent of the nation’s workers, is a primary contributor to the region’s pollution burden. Waste from these unregulated industries, including mercury from small-scale gold mining and lead from Used Lead-Acid Batteries (ULABs), is an under-recognized issue that can have negative health consequences for communities across the region. Pure Earth began implementing the Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP) in Kenya in 2009. In 2016, with continued funding from the EC and in partnership with UNIDO, Pure Earth Pure Earth 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 860 New York, NY, USA +1 212 647 8330 www.pureearth.org 2 expanded its work in the country, aiming to identify and screen contaminated sites with potential human health impact. The specific outputs planned for the activity included creating a regional inventory of sites, developing partnerships with local stakeholders and relevant agencies, and identifying possible priority interventions based on assessment of potential health risks. TOXIC SITE IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM (TSIP) The TSIP identifies active and abandoned hazardous waste sites resulting from both formal and informal industrial activities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). It does not include exposure