New study shows heavy metal soil contamination in some Kuils River preschools

At least once a week for two years, Stacy de Wet’s son woke up in the mornings with blood all over his bedding. Most nights, he had to use a nebuliser just so that he could breathe. 

For the mother-of-two, who lives in Kuils River near Cape Town, the culprit loomed a kilometre from her family’s home — the Cape Town Iron and Steel Works (Cisco), which produces steel from scrap using an electric arc furnace.