DRC: Studies Document Massive Pollution Around Kolwezi Copper and Cobalt Mines

Radio France Internationale

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In Kolwezi, in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, people describe a dust that arrives "like a fog." Some clean their homes three or four times a day. A doctor in the city says that there is not a day without a case related to air pollution. Four independent scientific studies published this month document what these communities have been denouncing for years: copper and cobalt mines in the region expose them to pollution lev…