Projects

Our partners have been hard at work making inroads toward a future free from lead exposure.

Explore our partner projects

Using their unique strengths, research and reach, our partners have been making steady advancement toward a lead-exposure free world for children. Moving forward with our resources and expertise united toward a common goal, our progress in protecting the world’s children from lead exposure will take on even greater momentum.

GEORGIA

National response plan to lower blood lead levels

Location: Nationwide
Duration: 2018 - ongoing
Implementors: UNICEF and Government of Georgia
Donors: Government of Estonia, UNICEF, Clarios Foundation, USAID and The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)

In Adjara, 80 per cent of children tested had elevated blood lead levels in 2018. Potential sources of lead exposure include toys and lead-adulterated spices. Research is ongoing to pinpoint the sources. UNICEF developed a three-phase strategy that encompassed understanding the problem through survey, searching for sources of lead and the third phase is underway – developing a national response plan.

Children exposed to lead often suffer difficulties with learning

BANGLADESH

Informal lead-acid battery recycling site remediation

Location: Kathgora, Bangladesh
Duration: 2017 - 2019
Implementors: Pure Earth, Geology Department of the Dhaka University, Department of Environment, Ministry of Environment and Forests, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B)
Donors: USAID, European Commission, and The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

In 2018, Kathgora housed an informal lead-acid battery recycling operation that left soil lead levels at 250 times the safe limit. All the children tested had elevated blood lead levels. Pure Earth and local workers disposed of the battery waste and scraped the ground, recovering it with clean soil. About 18 months later, local children’s blood lead levels had reduced by 42 per cent.

Though blood lead levels can be lowered, developmental damage can not be reversed, but further damage can be avoided.

INDONESIA

Assisting the government with lead exposure crisis response

Location: Pesarean, Tegal, Indonesia
Duration: 2015 - ongoing
Implementors: Pure Earth, Komite Penghapusan Bensin Bertimbel (KPBB), Ministry of Environment – Indonesia, Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi (BPPT) and Regency of Bogor
Donors: Asian Development Bank (ADB), Danish Aid Agency (DANIDA)

In Central Java, home-based lead-acid battery recycling without designated disposal sites left children playing in village slag piles and 88 per cent of people tested with elevated blood lead levels. In 2015, Pure Earth began identifying contaminated sites and their risks. In 2018, the first cleanup was undertaken in a village school yard and further government remediation plans are underway.

Remediation of contaminated sites is one of our greatest tools

GHANA

Promising pilot project for cleaner e-waste recycling

Location: Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana
Duration: 2013 - 2016
Implementors: Pure Earth, City University of New York (CUNY), School of Public Health, EPA Ghana, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Ministry of Environment, Global Alliance for Health and Pollution (GAHP), Greater Accra Scrap Dealers Association (GASDA), Green Advocacy Ghana (GreenAd), National Youth Authority, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Donors: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), European Commission, Global Alliance for Health and Pollution (GAHP), Addax & Oryx Foundation

Hundreds of informal lead-acid battery and electronics recyclers break open products to resell the metals inside in Agbogbloshie, where children work alongside their parents. A pilot program by Pure Earth and GreenAd Ghana tested safer e-waste recycling methods using mechanized stripping machines instead of burning that resulted in cleaner yet economically viable recycling with less toxic exposure.

Pilot projects can lead the way to a future free from lead exposure

MEXICO

Educating the public to create and buy lead-free pottery

Location: Morelos, Mexico
Duration: 2015 - ongoing
Implementors: Pure Earth, Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios (COFEPRIS), Fondo Nacional para el Fomento de las Artesanías (FONART), INSP - National Institute of Public Health
Donors: Clarios Foundation, HSBC Mexico, Fundación Merced, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Meridian Bioscience

One of the main sources of lead exposure in Mexico is traditional artisanal pottery made with lead glazes. Pure Earth’s Barro Aprobado project trains potters in lead-free glaze techniques, raises awareness about the dangers of leaded pottery and works with the hospitality industry in driving demand for lead-free pottery.

Educating on the dangers of lead exposure works in parallel to teaching new methods

ALL PROJECTS

Project #3

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Project #2

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Project #1

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A STRATEGIC APPROACH

To reach our goal, the founding partners have developed a strategic approach to creating a future free from lead exposure.

Our four-part strategy for protecting every child’s potential involves:

Mobilization of the country-level collective action that can cut a clear path to preventing childhood lead exposure.
Finding and addressing existing sources of lead exposure for children in low- and middle-income countries.
Assisting governments with education, remediation and tools that will ensure responsible lead use and smelting.
Encouraging private businesses and organizations to join our mission and take action in a variety of ways.

HELP US SOLVE A GLOBAL PROBLEM

With your help – and the help of a network from across the world – we can create a safer world for children. A future free from lead exposure. Join us.

Preventing childhood lead exposure

With an initial focus on implementing projects in Bangladesh, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia and Mexico.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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