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So how serious is this for members of the public who use them regularly? Why was testing required? And how excessive is the lead? We asked the principal health inspector viaZoom today:

John Bodden. Principal Public Health Inspector
"It was an activity that was being done by the University of Belize along with Mercer University. They selected a few items in the country and eventually that was a result that they found that these exercise equipment had excessive levels."

"Actually they did a number of samples in the country and I think and I wouldn't want because I have not seen the results as such but I do know that it has been indicated by Dr. Urbina that we had some other products that may have had lead in it and I think one of them is zinc."

"The zinc roofing that we normally use within our construction of the homes."

Jules Vasquez
"For persons who have used it, what should be their concern? Should they go to the doctor? What should they do?"

John Bodden. Principal Public Health Inspector
"Okay well the first thing is that we would need to know what is the condition of the machine itself. Has the paint been flaking because only if there's the flaking of the paint then you would start having impact to the environment and to individuals itself. It's possible that now there might be some wearing that is happening on these equipment and those areas where you most likely would have had contact with might be where you get the most wear and tear on the equipment."

"So initially you will not see any kind of signs of symptoms because it takes a prolonged period of time before you start seeing the impact of having any kind of poisoning associated with lead and you must realize that lead is a natural occuring element in the environment itself."

Jules Vasquez
"Okay so persons who were exposed, where should they go to seek treatment?"

John Bodden. Principal Public Health Inspector
"Okay as I said it's too premature at this time for people to even start having the side effects and so if you would visit probably you might not even start noticing anything because it takes a while, it's an accumulation issue so it's over a prolonged period of time that you have to be exposed that you would start feeling anything."

Reporter
"Okay and should it be a point of concern that this was discovered by university students as opposed to officials I would say?"

John Bodden. Principal Public Health Inspector
"Well no, not necessarily I mean globally lead is still pretty much under study and most people don't even have like legislation regulating the control in terms of the quantities that are released or emitted within the in the environment, so it is something that is still being worked on and I guess that's why Mercer University had interest in terms of gathering data from across the global world and to see exactly what is happening in different parts of the world."

Jules Vasquez
"Should this notice, we got it from the Orange Walk Town Council, and we learned of it from other Town Councils, but should the notice not have come from the Ministry of Health and Wellness?"

John Bodden. Principal Public Health Inspector
"It did, it did came from the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Actually the letter that went to the town console came from us from the director of public health and wellness."

Jules Vasquez
"But in terms of public health, shouldn't the public health notice have come from you guys?"

John Bodden. Principal Public Health Inspector
"Yes, that would be normally the procedure that is used."

Reporter
"Would this mean that there would need to be mandatory lead testing especially when you talk about playgrounds whether it be public or private because you know schools, different institutions have playgrounds as well."

"So will this be the beginning of that."

John Bodden. Principal Public Health Inspector
"Well it should, it should stimulate us to say, this is something that we need to be proactive with because I, as you did mention that I, I could recall last week at the Holy Redeemer School, the equipment that was actually installed there is a bright yellow, and what happened with the lead, it normally is used because it tends to radiate the color, much more. And, you know, children are gravitated to bright colors and so forth and I do see some of the play station with the playgrounds and with that color, and it might need some testing to see whether those might have standards that probably either meet or exceed the limits."

"I do believe that, and now we know that the university can perform the test in house and so we can, of course, utilize their services."

So, how did the equipment end up in Belize - and who approved it? Bodden said it wasn't him:

John Bodden. Principal Public Health Inspector
"The monies were given to the Ministry of Health as part of the wellness parks initiative which was being supported by Taiwan. Taiwan had no bearing in terms of purchasing or selecting, that was a ministry activity and they purchased it and I presume that normally when you purchase things you would make sure that you at least the product that you're purchasing is meeting minimum requirements and I think this is one where because most places don't have minimum requirements for lead in paint then it tends to evade the scrutiny process."

Jules Vasquez
"So did the Ministry of Health in 2019 fail to exercise due diligence?"

John Bodden. Principal Public Health Inspector
"Well I'm not sure exactly what was that procedure. As I mentioned before, I was just brought into the picture in terms of knowing what the data is so I'm not sure about the procurement process and what was implemented for them to validate what quality the product was."

On July 31, 2024, Mercer University posted an article saying, quote, "The on-site preliminary screening found a significant portion of the paints analyzed contained lead, he said. Those samples have been brought back to Mercer for further testing."end quote.