Immediate action is urgently needed to shut down or control industrial sites in Dhaka that are leaking toxic lead, as they are putting thousands of children at serious health risk. Report UNB
A new study led by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (Icddr,b) has revealed alarmingly high levels of lead in children’s blood, raising fresh concerns about industrial pollution in the capital’s densely populated neighbourhoods.
Icddr,b organized a discussion titled ‘Fighting Lead Poisoning in Bangladesh - Progress Made, Challenges Ahead’ to highlight the widespread and preventable burden of lead exposure in Bangladesh and explore opportunities for urgent intervention.
Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, Executive Director of icddr,b said, "Lead poisoning silently steals our children's potential, damaging their brain development and nutritional status, with consequences that will hold back Bangladesh's future. We must act decisively to eliminate these sources of exposure so that every child can grow up healthy, smart, and ready to contribute to our nation."
The event began with an overview of Icddr,b's lead prevention efforts by Dr Sarah Salway, Senior Director, Health Systems and Population Studies Division (HSPSD).
She underscored how lead exposure remains a major but overlooked public health threat in Bangladesh, particularly for children living near polluting industries.
Saying that lead, a toxic heavy metal, has been silently harming the health of millions, especially young children and pregnant women, Dr Sarah said there is no safe level of lead in the blood, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers blood lead levels above 35 µg/L (micrograms per litre) to be a cause for concern, especially in young children.
According to Unicef, Bangladesh is now the 4th most lead-impacted country globally, with 36 million children suffering from elevated blood lead levels [1] Research presented at the event revealed that in Dhaka slums from 2009-2012, 87% of children under 2 had blood lead levels >50 µg/L, strongly associated with stunting [2].
Professor Steve Luby, Professor of Medicine, Stanford University and a former Director at Icddr,b highlighted how lead exposure severely impairs brain development, causing IQ loss and cognitive deficits that can permanently affect future generations.
He said, "Lead enters the body in multiple ways, through the air we breathe, the food we eat, contact with contaminated soil or dust, and even during pregnancy through the placenta. These exposure pathways make it nearly impossible to avoid unless we address the root causes in our environment, especially those we have the ability to manage and control."
Dr Md Mahbubur Rahman, Project Coordinator at Icddr,b, presented findings from a decade of lead-related research. It was noted that common sources of lead exposure include pollution from lead- and battery-related industries, lead-based paints, and consumer goods like cosmetics and cookware.
One of the most impactful interventions to date has been targeting turmeric adulteration (polished with lead chromate).
After studies conducted by the team from Stanford and Icddr.b confirmed turmeric as a major source of exposure among pregnant women, national actions followed-led by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority-including public awareness campaigns, enforcement, and regulation. As a result, the proportion of lead-contaminated turmeric samples declined dramatically from 47% in 2019 to less than 0% in 2021.
Dr Jesmin Sultana, Assistant Scientist at Icddr, b, shared the preliminary findings of a recent study (between 2022-2024) in Dhaka involving 500 children aged 2-4.
She noted that every child had detectable blood lead levels (median BLL: 67 µg/L), with 98% exceeding the CDC's reference value of 35 µg/L Children living within 1 km of the identified lead-related industrial sites had 43% higher blood lead levels than those further than 5 km away.
Other significant sources included indoor smoking, contaminated household dust, lead-based cosmetics, and cookware.
