In the province of Ghor in central Afghanistan, pieces of scrap metal, mainly old car parts such as casings and body panels are hoarded in a yard outside a workshop. Bit by bit they are melted down in a dilapidated furnace that regurgitates thick black smoke into the atmosphere. This recycled metal is then remade into kazans – these cooking pots are a staple of an Afghan kitchen and can be found in every province in the country.
And it is these Kazans that a mounting body of evidence suggests are slowly poisoning the country. A few years ago, a study carried out by the National Institute of Health found that Afghan refugee children who had resettled in the Washington state had the highest blood lead levels out of any other immigrant or refugee population. It was concluded that this came directly from pressure cookers the families had brought with them from Afghanistan with one pressure cooker leaching 650 times more lead than the recommended childhood limit.
Afghanistan has leading rates of lead exposure worldwide with the average blood lead level exceeding that of countries such as China by fivefold. It is estimated that nearly all Afghan children have at least some degrees of lead poisoning. The consequences of longterm exposure can range from brain and central nervous system damage often leading to convulsions, coma and even death, to learning problems and behavioral difficulties.
It is also shown to have contributed to a greater incidence in violence and criminality in adulthood. The sudden decline in crime rates globally, but especially in America, has been linked to the removal of lead from paint and petrol. And whilst some scientists are still skeptical of a direct causal link between lead and crime rates, the lead-crime hypothesis – which shows the correlation between falling levels of lead in the blood of small children and the reduction of violent crime is staggering.
Afghanistan's past has been nothing short of tumultuous. From the latter part of the 20th century to the present day the country has been occupied by Soviet troops, US led national forces and in between has fallen into the hands of various militant groups. The Taliban, who currently control Afghanistan, have been designated a terrorist organisation by various countries such as the United States, Canada and New Zealand are notoriously violent and oppressive, particularly towards women.
Countries which have endured decades of conflict like Afghanistan also tend to have higher levels of lead, mainly due to remnants of abandoned munitions and the wreckage of military machinery which pollute the air. Whilst there were some cautious attempts by the US backed government led by Hamid Karzai to resolve issues with contaminated kitchenware, the results were ultimately fruitless. Over a decade later, the Telegraph reported that none of the Taliban health ministry officials appeared to have any plans for tackling the country’s health crisis or were even aware of the problem in the first place.
The Taliban’s consolidation of power and their dominance over Afghanistan can be attributed to many things, the fall of the Soviet-backed government in 92’ and the subsequent civil war which allowed the country to unravel, the following insurgency after US and NATO forces withdrew in 2021. However, amongst all these various reasons that contribute to a radical group being able to have such a violent grip on a country, could the lead which is slowly poisoning an entire nation be a silent factor? Does the lead poisoning, merely exacerbate the problems plaguing Afghanistan?
Or is it at the root of why the cycle of violence continues? Only one thing is clear, if not resolved the ramifications for the country will be severe and enduring.