**1. Introduction**

Zamfara State is located in Northwestern Nigeria at latitudes 10o 5000 – 13o 3800N, longitudes 4<sup>o</sup> 1600 – 7o 1300E and altitude of 451.00 meters above sea level [1]. The State (Zamfara) shares borders with the Republic of Niger to the Northeast, Kaduna State to the Southeast, Katsina State to the East, Sokoto and Kebbi States to the North and Niger State to the Southwest. Zamfara State covers a land mass of 39,762 square kilometers and is inhabited by an estimated total population of 3,582,912 people, over 80 percent of whom are engaged in various forms of agriculture [2].

Zamfara State is characterized by a tropical warm climate with relatively higher temperatures up to 38o C from March to June, shorter period of precipitation from

July to September and a period of relatively cold, dusty and dry Harmattan from December to February [3]. Major agricultural products from the state include millet, guinea corn, maize, rice, ground nuts, cotton, tobacco and beans (mostly, cowpea). These crops are grown in all fourteen (14) Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state namely, Anka, Bakura, Birnin Magaji, Bukkuyum, Bungudu, Gumi, Gusau, Kaura Namoda, Maradun, Maru, Shinkafi, Talata Mafara, Tsafe and Zurmi [4].

Being an agricultural community, most villagers in Zamfara State rely on farming to earn a living. However, the region is also richly endowed with many different types of solid minerals including gold. With a recent global rise in the prices of gold, many villagers have started mining gold to earn more money [5]. Gold mining trade in Zamfara communities is estimated to have commenced in 2006 or even much earlier. It has been observed that the communities engaged in many unsafe mining practices that would expose children, adults and animals to harmful levels of lead [6]. In the conduct of their mining operations, most villagers do not wear any personal protective equipment while working with the lead ore. They would return home with lead dust on their clothing, shoes and mining implements. Similarly, when they brought lead ore inside their homes to extract gold, the lead dust would spread over many areas within and around the compound, elder children often helped to grind the lead ore to extract gold while the younger children would play around within the leadcontaminated compounds. These activities and behaviors expose the occupants to high levels of lead dust, which could be injurious to their health [7].
