South Pacific islanders are working to save their home from a toxic legacy

Currently, the UN supports processes to make the land safe to travel on and rebuild, but the risk to public health from munitions corrosion is increasing.

For years, island residents have suspected that this toxic legacy is harming them and their children, and now a study in partnership with the United Nations finds strong evidence to support this, by ensuring the presence of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and explosive residues.

Lead study – funded by the Government of Japan and supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) – Dr. Stacey Pizzino from the University of Queensland explains that the risk to island residents is increasing because unexploded ordnance – known as UXO – is part of everyday life there.

“You can see UXO on coral reefs when you travel, when you look down from a boat,” he told reporters in Geneva. “Unexploded ordnance was used as an anchor in the canoe and children interacted with the devices on a regular basis.

“In one of the areas where we are, we often hear explosions and children are playing with the devices and picking up explosives to make explosions, to blow up coconuts.”

Dr. Pizzino noted reports of sore eyes, rashes, and breast-fed babies developing mouth ulcers, ulcers, and rashes, after their mothers allegedly ate contaminated seafood.

Deadly discovery

In another case, he described how a mother carried a bag of ammunition confiscated from her children that they found underwater, on a reef.

Testing of the dust inside the bag containing the device showed “very high levels of lead…There is no level of lead that is safe for children,” Dr Pizzino said. “This has health impacts in terms of brain development.”

The findings of this UN study are the first of their kind in the Pacific.

Food chain threat

At Lever’s Point and other locations, soil samples showed elevated levels of heavy metals. Highly explosive compounds TNT and PETN were also detected. In several locations traces of marine life were found, including shellfish.

This episode highlights the long-term consequences of not breaking regulations and the immediate need to protect public health.

Making an area safe is a slow and complicated process because the threat of contamination is great.

But that changed everything.

“The Explosive Devices Unit came and detonated a lot of bombs,” said Fred, a farmer from Gavatu Island. “When we know the area is safe, we can relax. We can plant plants. We’re not worried about the kids.”

For UNDP, making land and coral reefs safe is important for development.

“Unexploded ordnance has always been an important issue,” said UNDP Deputy Representative Raluca Eddon. “Time is running out as more and more dangerous chemicals leak into the environment, damaging coral reefs, marine life and coastal communities.”

Another island resident, Billy, who is a farmer and fisherman, agrees. “Now we understand that there may be greater risks,” he said. “We want the bombs removed. We want to live safely.”

While the UNDP research does not claim to represent all countries or establish definitive cause-and-effect links, the combination of environmental evidence, community reports and observed health patterns suggests a “credible and growing risk”, the agency said.