CGD Lead Poisoning Bi-weekly Update

AuthorAuthor

Theo Mitchell & Rachel Bonnifield
October 30, 2026

Dear Colleagues,

Sharing here CGD’s bi-weekly update on lead poisoning publications, events, job opportunities, and funding announcements.

We welcome submissions for future newsletters at this link. New subscribers can sign up at this link, and existing subscribers can remove themselves from future updates via the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email. We will also invite the new subscribers to join our monthly check-in call.

With best wishes,

Rachel Bonnifield
Senior Fellow
Center for Global Development

New Publications and Resources

  • Toxic cookware: lead exposure from aluminum pots in Bangladesh. Raphael Kim et al. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. On first use, rice and khichuri cooked in new artisanal aluminium pots contained a mean of 305 and 420 µg/kg of lead. Food from both new and used pots stayed above the FDA's 10 µg/kg limit for baby food even after repeated use, and abrasive scrubbing released up to five times more lead.

  • Lead Exposure in Children Surveillance System (LEICSS) annual report, 2026. UK Health Security Agency. England recorded 324 children with blood lead levels at or above 5 µg/dL in 2025, up 31% from 2024. UKHSA says surveillance substantially underestimates the number of affected children.

  • Countries move to accelerate action against lead poisoning. World Health Organization. WHO is also supporting blood lead testing capacity in Brazil, Nepal, five Indian states, and six sub-Saharan African countries.

  • Impact Report 2026. Pure Earth. Highlights include Brazil's new 90 ppm limit on lead in most paints, a new Ghana Standards Authority lead standard for aluminium cookware, enforcement action against 57 informal ULAB recycling facilities in Bangladesh, and Ethiopia's national roadmap, which targets a 60% cut in children's blood lead levels by 2030.

  • We lose trillions to lead poisoning each year. Here's how to stop it. Patrik Silborn and Amy Cotter. World Economic Forum. They cite a UNICEF estimate that $1.6 billion in catalytic funding, under $2 per child, could end childhood lead poisoning by 2040 (against the global yearly cost of lead at $6 trillion). They argue for building lead prevention into nutrition, education and primary healthcare programmes.

Job Opportunities

  • The Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP) is hiring a Principal Advisor, Policy and Government Engagement. The role is remote, with regular travel to programme countries. Apply here  by 5 November.

Upcoming Events

  • The Asian Development Bank will host a three-part webinar series on managing used lead-acid batteries, building on its regional study of ULAB management and recycling. Speakers include Lead-safe India, the LAB Recycling Initiative, Coefficient Giving and government officials from the Philippines, Cambodia and Georgia. Register here. Tuesdays 10, 17 and 24 November 2026, 07:00 GMT, online.

  • WHO and Resolve to Save Lives will host the last two webinars introducing WHO's PREVENT technical package for countries. Module 3 covers policies, regulation and enforcement in lead-related industries, and Module 4 covers consumer products. Register for Module 3 here and Module 4 here. Tuesday 3 November and Thursday 12 November 2026, 13:00 GMT, online.

  • The UNEP-hosted Global Framework on Chemicals will hold its first International Conference (GFC IC1), including a dedicated thematic space on lead exposure elimination. Find out more here. Monday 16 to Friday 20 November 2026, Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG), Geneva.