Marco
Marco dreams of becoming a doctor someday. The only problem is that almost all of the children tested in his hometown of La Oroya, Peru, have too much lead in their blood. Marco’s lead levels are five times higher than the safe level. Marco is not really his name-- his parents are afraid if he uses his real name, the family will get in trouble for telling about his health problems.
Cristain
Cristain is two years old. He has brown hair and eyes, and he is a quiet little boy. When his blood was tested when he was 19 months old, the level of lead was seven times the safe level. Cristain should be speaking in sentences at age two, but he can only point at things and moan. His mother worries that Cristain picked up dirt from the street and put it in his mouth.
Javier
Javier is seven years old. He has terrible headaches. Often he is too tired to do much of anything. He has problems learning at school. Worse, his skull seems to be growing wrong. His parents are worried that these health problems are due to contamination by lead and other heavy metals.
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