A/HRC/45/CRP.10 unquestionable violations brought by an unhealthy environment comes in focus. Independent assessments have identified hundreds of thousands of contaminated sites around the world, including as a result of conflict and industrial operations. Left unaddressed, contaminated sites pose a continuing threat to the rights of present and future generations. The impacts of exposure, particularly during sensitive periods of development, are often irreversible, debilitating and deadly. No less significant than the physical impacts are the impacts on mental health, including the emotional trauma for people exposed to toxic substances and for their families. III. The case of lead-contaminated housing in Kosovo 11. Between 1999 and 2013, the United Nations housed approximately 600 members of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian families, displaced during the Kosovo conflict, in camps constructed on lead-contaminated toxic wasteland. The camps were established close to the Trepca industrial complex. The Trepca smelter extracted metals, including lead, from the products of nearby mines from the 1930s until 1999. 12. Lead and heavy metal contamination in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë and its adverse effects on human health was documented before the displaced residents arrived. Since the 1970s, the area around the facility was known to be highly contaminated. Reports of lead poisoning among RAE residents of the camp and nearby French peacekeepers began to surface almost immediately in 1999. Peacekeeping soldiers were quickly relocated in 2000, away from the toxic dumps; however, preventative measures for the residents were not taken for many years, in some cases not until 2013. Meanwhile, irreversible diseases and disabilities developed among residents incessantly exposed to toxic lead, which is believed to have contributed to the death of several children and adults15. 13. Concerns were consistently raised regarding the situation of the RAE residents, particularly of women of reproductive age and children, housed in poor and toxic living conditions in precarious camps. A UNEP case study found that the RAE population of the IDP camps faced a high risk of contamination due to the close proximity of the camps to contaminated and unsecured waste material and the rudimentary living conditions in the camps. 16 In addition, human rights NGOs (such as Human Rights Watch - HRW), local human rights institutions (primarily the Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo) and United Nations and European human rights monitoring mechanisms, including the United Nations treaty bodies and Special Rapporteurs, and the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, who had visited and monitored the camps since 2005, defined the situation in the RAE camps as the most serious humanitarian and environmental problem in Europe. 17 14. Lead affects multiple body systems and is particularly harmful to children. Lead builds up in the body, often over months or years. Even small amounts of lead can cause serious health problems. According to WHO, there is no safe level of exposure to lead.18 At very high levels, lead poisoning can be fatal19. Socio-economic factors also influence exposure to lead, since families living in vulnerable conditions are more likely to live near industrial plants or work directly there. Further, poor iron or calcium deficient diets facilitate the absorption of lead, especially by children. 20 15. Children are especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of lead and can suffer profound and permanent adverse health effects, particularly affecting the development of the brain and the nervous system. Children younger than 6 years are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can permanently impair mental and physical development. Lead in bone is released into blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing 15 16 17 18 19 20 4 HRAP, N.M. and Others v. UNMIK, case 26/08 (26 Feb. 2016), paras 120, 121, 164. ibid, para 81. See also “Case Study and Lead and Heavy Metal contamination in Mitrovica, Kosovo”. HRAP, N.M. and Others v. UNMIK, case 26/08 (26 Feb. 2016), para 82. WHO official website https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-andhealth. Definition by Mayoclinic, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lead-poisoning/symptomscauses/syc-20354717. HRAP, N.M. and Others v. UNMIK, case 26/08 (26 Feb. 2016), para 64.