CGD Lead Poisoning Update
Posts
CGD Lead Poisoning Bi-weekly Update, March 20

CGD Lead Poisoning Bi-weekly Update, March 20

Theo Mitchell & Rachel Bonnifield
March 20, 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

Lead Exposure Risks from Consumer Products in Malawi: Key Recommendations and Next Steps. Tammy Tan and Isabel Arjmand. Lead for Research Action. Building on the findings of their Malawi lead content study, LeRA has released a follow up report that outlines key recommendations and proposed next steps for addressing the lead exposure risks identified. They hope this report will help guide mitigation-focused NGOs, government agencies, and researchers working to eliminate sources of lead exposure in Malawi.
2025 in Review: Advancing Lead Elimination at Scale. Lead Exposure Elimination Project. their 2025 annual report highlights expansion of its lead paint elimination programs to 40 countries covering 76% of births in LMICs, new lead paint regulations in five countries, and growing evidence that regulation and industry reformulation are reducing lead paint availability.
An Analytical Study of Lead Levels in Jewellery, Cosmetics & Toys for Children in Bangladesh. Hossain et al. Preventive Medicine Research & Reviews. The lead threshold was exceeded in 58.6% of toys tested in Bangladesh.
The Longer Reach of Lead: Early Childhood Lead Exposure and Cognitive Ability Later-in-Life. Chin et al. Preprint. Using variation in the timing of the U.S. leaded gasoline phase-out across states as an instrument for childhood blood lead, the paper finds that each 1 µg/dL increase in early-childhood blood lead reduces later-life cognitive test performance by roughly 0.07–0.09 standard deviations.

Job Oppurtunities

Vital Strategies is hiring program managers in Tanzania, Malawi, and Rwanda and an Africa Government Relations Advisor.
Coefficient Giving's Lead Exposure Action Fund is hiring a Senior Program Associate/Associate Program Officer.

Upcoming Events

Register here to attend CGD’s Second Annual Research Conference on Global Lead Exposure. It is being hosted on Wednesday, 3 June and Thursday, 4 June in London and livestreamed.