For many years, islanders have suspected that this toxic legacy has been harming them and their children, and now a UN-associated study has discovered strong evidence to support it, confirming the presence of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and explosive residues.
Leading the study – funded by the Government of Japan and supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) – Dr Stacey Pizzino of the University of Queensland explained that the risk to islanders is growing as unexploded ordnance – known as UXO – is part of daily life there.
“You can see UXO on reefs when you travel, when you look down from a boat,” he told reporters in Geneva. “Unexploded ordnance is used as anchors on canoes and children interact with the devices on a regular basis.
“In one area we were in, we heard explosions quite regularly and children were playing with the devices and extracting explosives from them to create firecrackers and blow up coconuts.”
Dr. Pizzino noted reports of sore eyes, rashes, and nursing babies developing mouth ulcers, boils, and rashes after their mothers had eaten suspected contaminated shellfish.
More than 80 years after World War II, the Solomon Islands remain one of the most mine-contaminated places in the Pacific.
Lethal discovery
In another case, he described how a mother brought a bag of ammunition confiscated from children who had been found underwater on a reef.
Tests of the dust in the bag containing the devices showed “incredibly high levels of lead… There is no safe level of lead for children,” Dr. Pizzino said. “It has health impacts in terms of brain development.”
The UN study’s findings are the first of their kind in the Pacific.
Threat to the food chain
At Lever’s Point and other sites, soil samples revealed elevated levels of heavy metals. The highly explosive compounds TNT and PETN were also detected. Traces of marine life, including shellfish, were found in some places.
The episode highlights the long-term consequences of unexploded ordnance and the need to urgently protect public health.
Making areas safe is a slow and complex operation because the threat of contamination is enormous.
But it changes everything.
“The explosive devices unit comes and explodes a lot of bombs,” said Fred, a farmer on Gavatu Island. “When we know the area is clear, we can relax. We can plant crops. We don’t worry about the children..”
For UNDP, making land and reefs safe is essential for development.
“Unexploded ordnance has always been an important issue,” says UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Raluca Eddon. “Time is running out as more dangerous chemicals leak into the environment, harming reefs, marine life and coastal communities.”
Another islander, Billy, who is a farmer and fisherman, agrees. “We now understand that there could be an even greater risk,” he says. “We want the bombs removed. We want to live in security.”
While UNDP research is not intended to represent the entire country or establish a definitive causal link, the combination of environmental evidence, community reports and observed health patterns point to a “credible and increasing risk,” the agency says.