Thai children said thank you to the government. Three years after stop operating a gold mine, the arsenic in the child’s body was reduced twelvefold and learning disability was lower. Moreover, after using the restoration program, the researchers found that the intelligence quotient (IQ), cognitive skills, and the knowledge to be aware of how to prevent themselves from the toxins from the environment are increased.
In 2015, the Central Institute of Forensic Science got a complaint from the people who are living in the areas that operating a gold mine and they found the high levels of arsenic in the body of children and adults. In 2016, the government has voted to stop operating a gold mine and assign the Ministry of Public Health and other organizations to take care of people’s health in those areas. Moreover, Child Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center (CSIP), Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital together with the Bureau of Occupational and Environmental Diseases, Ministry of Public Health test the arsenic level, IQ, and learning disabilities in the students who are studying at grade 4-6 from six schools in the areas around the gold mine and found that 36.1 percent have the arsenic at the higher levels than normal in the body, 38.4 percent have a lower IQ than 90 in the children who have an IQ greater than or equal to 90, and children who have learning disabilities was at 38.9 percent. In addition, a study from abroad found that when the children have arsenic in the body, it will affect the IQ and have learning disabilities. However, in these three provinces, there is still some debate over whether the high levels of arsenic stay before operating a gold mine or not?
In 2019, the National Institute for Child and Family Development, Mahidol University has monitored the level of arsenic, IQ, and learning disabilities in children in the same areas by the supporting from Health Systems Research Institute under the research project “Follow up the effect of Arsenic, Manganese, Cyanide, and promotion of cognitive and learning disability in elementary school grade 4-6” found then the proportion of higher arsenic content in the bodies of the children from the same six schools was reduced from 36.1 percent to 4.5 percent. It was reduced twelvefold when compared to the year 2016, it was reduced in all schools, all grades, and all genders. Whereas children who have a greater IQ or equal to 90 and have learning disabilities were reduced from 38.90 percent to 22.22 percent. The researchers recover the children who had cognitive skills and learning disabilities for one semester found that the children who got the recovered have increasing statistically significant in reading, spelling, sentence comprehension, and math. Moreover, in the assessment of IQ, the researcher found that the average score of IQ was at 85.43 points, it was lower than normal but after the restoration, the researcher found that the average score of IQ increased to 90.11 points which are in the normal. In addition, the children have the knowledge to be aware of how to prevent themselves from the toxins from the environment are increased was at 41.9 percent. Therefore, if children get a recovery immediately from the teachers and other people, the children will certainly get better in health, mind, and intellectual skills.
