Lead poisoning kills nearly 1 million people a year, warns WHO

Each year, about 1 million people die from lead poisoning in the world. Exposure to low levels of lead also affects millions of other individuals, including children, who can develop lifelong health problems such as anemia, high blood pressure and intoxication of Organs reproductive organs.

The alert is from the World Health Organization (WHO), which states that the neurological and behavioral effects of lead may be irreversible. WHO recommends that the source of lead exposure be identified and action taken to reduce and end exposure for all individuals with a blood lead level greater than 5 µg/dl. According to the WHO, there is no safe level of exposure to lead, which harms health, especially the health of children.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 1 in 3 children – up to 800 million worldwide – have blood lead levels equal to or greater than 5 µg/dl.

“Exposure to lead is especially dangerous for children’s developing brains and can result in reduced intelligence quotient (IQ), attention span, impaired learning ability and an increased risk of behavioral problems. This preventable damage to children’s brains leads to a tragic loss of potential,” says Maria Nera, director of the WHO’s Department for Environment, Climate Change and Health.

Lead is toxic to many systems in the body, including the central nervous system and brain, reproductive system, kidneys, cardiovascular system, blood system, and immune system.

Lead exposure is estimated to be responsible for 21.7 million years lost to disability and death (disability-adjusted life years, or DALYs) worldwide, due to long-term health effects.

The WHO estimates that 30% of idiopathic intellectual disabilities, 4.6% of cardiovascular disease and 3% of chronic kidney disease can be attributed to lead exposure.

lead exposure

There are many sources of lead exposure in industrial environments such as mining and smelting, recycling of e-waste and lead-acid batteries, plumbing and ammunition in environments that can expose children and adolescents, particularly in developing economies.

Exposure can also occur in non-industrial environments as lead-based paint can be found in homes, schools, hospitals and playgrounds. Children can ingest flakes and dust from toys or lead-painted surfaces, or be exposed through lead-glazed ceramics and some traditional medicines and cosmetics.

“We have made significant progress. The world has seen a significant reduction in the use of lead in paints over the last 10 years, with over 84 countries now having legally binding controls to limit the production, import and sale of lead paints. We now also have a global ban on leaded gasoline. But there is still more work to be done,” says Lesley Onyon, head of the Chemical Safety Unit at the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health.

Lesley says lead poisoning is entirely preventable through a series of measures to restrict lead use and monitor and manage exposures. “That’s why this year we’re expanding the scope to avoid all sources of lead exposure,” she says.

Important sources of exposure include environmental contamination from lead-acid battery recycling and from poorly controlled lead mining and smelting operations. In addition to the use of traditional lead-containing remedies, lead ceramic glazes used in food containers, pipes and other lead-containing components in lead-based paint and water delivery systems.

The WHO has identified lead as one of the ten chemicals of greatest public health concern that need action by countries to protect the health of workers, children and women of reproductive age. WHO calls on all countries to ban lead paint, identify and eliminate all sources of childhood lead exposure, and raise public awareness of the dangers of misuse of lead-containing products.