CGD Lead Poisoning Update
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CGD Lead Poisoning Bi-weekly Update, September 18

CGD Lead Poisoning Bi-weekly Update, September 18

Theo Mitchell & Rachel Bonnifield
September 18, 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

Monochromatic ‘high-definition’ XRF is a highly robust tool for high-throughput lead screening of foods. Baidas et al. Food Chemistry. This specialised XRF achieves a lead detection limit of 0.044 ppm, which is around 100 times lower than conventional XRF. In 136 spice samples, it produced no false positives or negatives at a 1 ppm screening threshold.
Nigerian battery recyclers pay for lead cleanup after Examination investigation. Will Fitzgibbon. The Examination. Recyclers are paying for a $150,000 cleanup in Ogijo, but factories have reopened and results from ~500 government blood tests remain unreleased. In the Republic of Congo, no cleanup or medical care has followed the closure of a battery recycling plant.
Plasma proteome biomarkers of lead exposure and lead-related cognitive and cardiovascular effects in Mexican adolescents: a pilot study protocol. Lamadrid-Figueroa et al. OSF preregistration. A CGD-funded pilot in Mexico City’s ELEMENT cohort will search for blood protein markers of early-life lead exposure and vulnerability to cognitive and cardiovascular effects.

Job Opportunities

Pure Earth is hiring a Chief Impact Officer and a Vice President of Communications. Both are New York preferred; remote candidates considered.
Pure Earth is hiring Accounting, Operations, and IT Assistants for hybrid roles in New York, supporting finance, office operations, and Microsoft 365 respectively.

Upcoming Events

Ending Lead Poisoning: A Global Call to Action. Bloomberg Philanthropies, Coefficient Giving, and the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future will host an in-person lunch and discussion in New York on September 22, during UN General Assembly week. Request an invitation using the form linked.
UNDENIABLE: Anglo American’s historical role in the Kabwe mine. Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA). An online report launch on September 23 at 12:00 SAST / 11:00 BST will present new archival research on the company’s involvement in Kabwe, Zambia.