09/09/2026
No, this is not the mid-20th century, where lead has been directly shortening our life spans, but now, it's rather a slow poison that is yet to leave our systems and our food and environment.
A study conducted by a team of researchers from Jessore University of Science and Technology (JUST) and Daffodil International University tested six types of metals and how much of these metals can be found in our food items. The study found a strong correlation between chromium and lead, suggesting that these two metals are likely to come from the same contamination source or process. Children are at higher risk of falling ill due to being exposed to lead since they weigh less than adults; hence, they are more susceptible to lead poisoning or being affected by it more.
A few symptoms of lead damage can range from having low IQ and anemia to kidney damage and so on; these symptoms seem like something that you can hear everyone having and not think is very concerning. If one were to look at how anemia is considered quirky and is sometimes romanticised by Gen Z as something that'll go away by just "chewing on ice" or how people having low IQ is just the norm and not something to be concerned about, it is also something that has us blinded from considering lead as a pressing health hazard. A systematic review across 44 low- and middle-income countries found roughly 48.5% of children in LMICs had blood lead levels exceeding 5 ug/dL. In high-income countries, only about 5% of children exceed that same threshold, and just 1% exceed 10 ug/dL. People in Bangladesh, especially in low- or middle-class households, cannot always afford to buy food or toys or dishes or even go for health checkups monthly due to time and money, and people with low calcium and iron levels in their bodies are more susceptible to lead poisoning.
We are constantly blinded by our own ignorance. Yes, everything can be correlated back to a Bangladeshi ordinary citizen's income, food security, job security, and public healthcare, but we also fail to record lead into account as one of the major leading causes as well. Lead is in the air that you breathe, in the paint that chips off of your walls, in the dishes you eat out of, and in the auto rickshaw batteries you take, so it's faster for you to reach the place you refused to leave 10 minutes early for. It's in the make-ups and cosmetics that you use every day or the toys that you kids play with or chew on, and it's definitely in your water and your food. It is an inescapable cycle, one that most people are completely unaware of.
We first and foremost need to take the initiative to be more aware of what we are being exposed to in every step of the way and leave a clear and conscious mind open for new information regarding the environment and our health as well as educating and making our friends and families and other people in our communities aware of the effects that lead have caused us to have in our day-to-day life. We also need to be aware of all the technologies that we're using, especially to debate whether it's something that is a need or it's a want that you could go without. Technology is ever-evolving, and as much as it is impressive and convenient, it can easily be as harmful and something that is becoming detrimental to our planet and livelihood, so we need to be more cautious and aware of it.
