Pure Earth launches new India Lead Report

Assessment of Lead Impact on Human and India’s Response

In 2020, UNICEF and Pure Earth released a report entitled “The Toxic Truth: Children’s Exposure to Pb Pollution Undermines a Generation of Future Potential”. It indicated that lead (Pb) pollution was related to 230,000 annual premature adult deaths in India (out of 900,000 worldwide). In addition, 275 million children in India (out of 800 million globally or 1 in 3) had BLL that were abnormally high i.e., greater than 5 micrograms per deciliter. In view of the massive scale of the problem, NITI-Aayog requested CSIR/NEERI to undertake an in-depth review of the UNICEF/Pure Earth report, and the underlying data from Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The objective was to confirm the findings and suggest recommendations for reducing and mitigating Pb exposures in India. This report responds to the request of NITI-Aayog.

This report reviews exposures to Pb in light of that report, reviewing journal articles that include data related to BLLs in India. These are compared against the UNICEF report. Exposures have been evaluated at a broad national level, and occupationally. Sources of lead (Pb) are also reviewed and presented. This is done to determine the causes of elevated blood Pb levels. A detailed analysis of the health impact of elevated blood Pb levels is presented along with the recommendations for the way forward and follows up.