CGD Lead Poisoning Update
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CGD Lead Poisoning Bi-weekly Update, February 5

CGD Lead Poisoning Bi-weekly Update, February 5

Theo Mitchell & Rachel Bonnifield
February 06, 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
Director of Global Health Policy and Senior Fellow
Center for Global Development

New Publications and Resources

Is Lead Poisoning a Missing Link in the Fight Against Malnutrition? Crawfurd and Kandpal. CGD. Lead exposure may be an under-recognised contributor to child malnutrition. Cohort data suggest higher blood lead is associated with poorer growth, especially in high-exposure settings. Causal evidence is still limited.
A century of hair clippings show lead exposure rates have plummeted. Meghan Bartels. Scientific American. Lead in hair samples in Salt Lake City have dropped by a factor of 100 since the 1960s.
Millions exposed to lead in toothpaste, sindoor and eyeliners. Arjun Poudel. Kathmandu Post. Finds lead in a third of cosmetic products, as well as in toothpaste in Nepal.
A case report of an unconventional chronic lead poisoning resulting from daily eyelid application of kohl. Aïn et al. Practical Laboratory Medicine. It took a year for a 63 year old patient in NYC to see BLLs reduce from 17-20µg/dL to below 5µg/dL after discontinuing the use of leaded eyeliner.
Circulating miR-126 and miR-155 are associated with environmental lead exposure: A translational approach via human biomonitoring and bioinformatic networks. González-Bravo et al. Toxicology Reports. Finds microRNAs change in people exposed to lead and may reveal early damage to the cardiovascular system before clear symptoms appear.
Blood Lead Concentrations and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Childhood. Hoover et al. JAMA Network Open. US Cohort study finds early-life lead exposure is associated with poor mental health in teen years.
Duration-dependent Depletion of Micronutrients in Nigerian Male Workers Exposed to Lead. Okafor et al. International Journal of Biochemistry Research & Review. Workers in Nigeria who have been occupationally exposed to lead for 5+ years have significantly lower micronutrient levels than those exposed for fewer years.

Job Opportunities

Pure Earth's technical support team is looking to fill two positions: 1) a Used Lead-Acid Battery (ULAB) Advisor and 2) a Technical Remediation Manager. Read about the positions here.