MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The Northern Caribbean University scientist whose study revealed that the soil in sections of Manchester and St Elizabeth has poisonous metals, has said that the high level of contamination could be a combination of bauxite mining, sub-standard farming, chemicals and industrial waste.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer Friday, Dr Vincent Wright, the scientist who led the research last year which revealed the contamination, said that more research needs to be done to determine what was causing the high levels of contamination.

Just last week, Dr Wright revealed that sections of the soil in the Grove Place and Green Vale communities in Manchester, had high levels of the potentially deadly metal, arsenic, the cancer-causing cadmium, and the brain-altering metals, lead and mercury. Foodstuff such as yellow yam, sweet potato, cassava, pumpkin and coco, which were planted in these communities, were found to be contaminated with the dangerous substances as well.

Sweet potatoes had the highest levels of arsenic, lead and mercury, while yellow yams had the highest levels of cadmium, and coco was most vulnerable to lead.

Dr Wright, who is also head of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences at NCU, said that some of these metals are naturally occurring in the Earth’s crust, but it was the high levels that was causing concern.

“These need to be investigated to find out why some areas have high levels. In the areas with lead, it’s mostly mining or smelting that used to take place … some of the fertilisers being used tend to have some of these elements. It could also be things like the pesticides, some of these come in (to the island) illegally, they’re not even controlled. There’s also industrial waste, things like batteries, paint coating, certain plastics with different stabilisers. Tobacco is one plant that tends to have cadmium and when it is smoked or burnt, the chemical is released into the atmosphere,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Of 10 farms studied in Manchester and St Elizabeth, the ones in Greenvale and Grove Place were found to have levels of soil contamination well above the acceptable world standards.

Last year when Wright first revealed his concern that “pockets” of the soil in both parishes were contaminated, he refused to reveal the names of the communities most affected, for fear of causing alarm.

But the NCU department head said that much more research needs to be done to get to the bottom of the issue. He said that last year when his team of scientists undertook the study, they did so without outside funding.

“The university used its own money. We’re hoping that funds will come to continue funding some of these studies … we want to look further at the soil’s ph, the state of the soil … some substances tend to bind strongly with organic matter and go to plants. We have to look at what plants are affected, because not all plants are affected. Citrus, for example, is relatively safe,” he said.

While he refused to quote the exact level of funding the university would need to continue its investigation, he said that the institution would be willing to work with “whatever reasonable funding we get, because there are so many things that need to be done going forward”.

But Dr Wright said that in the meantime, steps must be taken to minimise the problem. “We need to ensure that what’s gonna be used, whether it be fertiliser or pesticide or other substances, should be devoid of these metals. RADA should be able to provide all the necessary technical advice to farmers. The health of the soil plays a very important role in plant nutrition,” he told the Sunday Observer.

He said that whether or not persons become ill when exposed to contaminated food or soil, would be dependent on “how they were exposed, dosage, duration of exposure, their age, sex, diet and state of health.”

He said that since revealing the details of the study last week, he has not been contacted by any government agency or agriculture organisation. However, Dr Wright said that last year when the news first broke that there were contaminated areas, he was invited to a meeting called by the agriculture ministry “to look into the matter”.

“They had made plans to hire a project manager, but I haven’t heard anything else since,” he said.