High concentrations of lead and barium in hair of the rural population caused by water pollution in the Thar Jath Oilfields in South Sudan

Since 1974, exploratory drillings for crude oil were performed in the southern areas of Sudan and large deposits were discovered between 1979 and 1982 in the states Upper Nile and Unity of the later South Sudan [1]. However, caused by civil war and political instability, oil production in larger scale started only in 1999 in the Unity oilfield (Fig. 1). The Thar Jath and Mala oil fields (block 5A, Unity state) were discovered in 2001 and production began there in 2006 and 2007 respectively after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed and the political autonomy of South Sudan was granted.

Source: Forensic Science International - December 22, 2016 Category: Forensic Medicine Authors: Fritz Pragst, Klaus Stieglitz, Hella Runge, Klaus-Dietrich Runow, David Quig, Robert Osborne, Christian Runge, John Ariki Source Type: research