News Highlights:
- Half the children in India report high blood lead levels, reveals a 2020 report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Pure Earth, a US-based environmental health non-profit.
- The report says 275 million children in India record blood lead levels beyond the tolerable limit of 5 µg/dL.
- Of these, 64.3 million children’s blood lead levels exceed 10 µg/dL.
Lead Poisoning:
- About lead:
- Lead is a naturally occurring toxic metal in the Earth’s crust. Its widespread use has resulted in extensive environmental contamination, human exposure and significant public health problems in many parts of the world.
- Important sources of environmental contamination come from mining, smelting, manufacturing and recycling activities and use in a wide range of products.
- More than three-quarters of global lead consumption is for manufacturing lead-acid batteries for motor vehicles.
- Key facts about lead poisoning:
- Lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems and is particularly harmful to young children.
- Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones, where it accumulates over time. Human exposure is usually assessed through the measurement of lead in blood.
- Lead in bone is released into the blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing fetus.
- Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body.
- In most cases, small amounts of lead consumed over time build up and cause health problems.
- There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.
- Lead exposure is preventable.
- Sources and routes of exposure:
- inhalation of lead particles generated by burning materials containing lead, for example during smelting, recycling, stripping leaded paint and using leaded aviation fuel; and
- ingestion of lead-contaminated dust, water (from leaded pipes) and food (from lead-glazed or lead-soldered containers).
- Health effects:
- Young children are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning because they absorb 4–5 times as much ingested lead.
- At high levels of exposure lead attacks the brain and central nervous system, causing coma, convulsions and even death.
- Children who survive severe lead poisoning may be left with intellectual disability and behavioural disorders.
- At lower levels of exposure that cause no obvious symptoms, lead is now known to produce a spectrum of injury across multiple body systems.
- Lead exposure also causes anaemia, hypertension, renal impairment, immunotoxicity and toxicity to the reproductive organs.
- The neurological and behavioural effects of lead are believed to be irreversible.
Challenges to Cope with Lead Poisoning:
- Lack of awareness:
- In India, lead does not get as much attention as other potential public health concerns.
- India lacks systems to screen populations for possible exposure.
- India has some 48 national referral centres for lead projects where blood lead levels can be tested, but screening is usually done on a voluntary basis or at health camps by non-profits.
- Lack of lead recycling laws:
- Many developing countries, including India and under-developing countries, have a lack of stringent laws over informal recycling sectors.
- As a result, enormous quantities of (lead)-acid batteries are recovered without using scientific techniques in an unregulated and uncontrolled way.
- Cheap products with lead content:
- Many low-cost products in India contain lead, and people may not be willing or able to pay more for lead-free alternatives.
Conclusion:
- There is a desperate need for policy changes at the national and state levels, given the severe health implications.
- These include identifying at-risk populations through blood lead levels (BLL) monitoring, investigating sources of elevated BLLs and healthcare workforce training to sensitise them to monitor, detect and treat lead poisoning.
- India needs to devise implementable strategies on a state level through regional bureaucracy, local press and vernacular language to have a tangible impact.
Pic Courtesy: Freepik
Content Source: Down To Earth