Pure Earth

05/27/2026

Lead poisoning is invisible. Children rarely look sick, and by the time they do, the damage is severe. Before any government can protect its people, it needs to know where the danger is and what to do about it.

With support from generous friends like you, Pure Earth's local teams empower government officials with the data and expertise to stop toxic lead exposure.

One example: In April 2026, Pure Earth trained 12 national experts from Ethiopia's Environmental Protection Authority, Ministry of Health, and Food and Drug Authority in toxic site identification. The group then visited an abandoned battery recycling facility in Gelan district — where soil tests came back at 424,500 parts per million of lead. That's more than 42,000 times the EPA's hazard threshold for children.

In the coming months, these experts will assess four Ethiopian cities, 15 communities, and 10 market sites. For the first time, Ethiopia has the trained people, the protocols, and the institutional knowledge to find lead hotspots and protect communities.

Every gift you make now through June 30th goes twice as far to fund exactly this kind of work, with each donation matched dollar-for-dollar up to $50,000.

Make a matched donation today: https://give.pureearth.org/give/477446/ #!/donation/checkout

05/26/2026

Today we welcome George Bruno Akanlu as our new Country Director for Pure Earth Ghana!

He steps into this role with a clear mission to protect vulnerable communities across Ghana from toxic lead exposure.

George is a public health expert, bringing over 15 years of leadership experience in strategic program management and implementation of large-scale development programs. Please join us in welcoming George to the team.

Learn more about George: https://www.pureearth.org/pure-earth-ghana-appoints-george-bruno-akanlu-as-new-country-director/

05/21/2026

Lead poisoning affects nearly 1 billion children worldwide. But it's preventable, and right now, your support can go twice as far to help protect children from lead exposure.

We're launching our Spring Match Campaign, and we have exciting news: two donors have generously committed to match every gift dollar-for-dollar, up to $50,000.

That means every dollar you give now through June 30th doubles its impact, protecting children and families from toxic lead exposure, expanding education and outreach, and building healthier communities around the world.

Double your impact today: https://give.pureearth.org/give/477446/ #!/donation/checkout

05/20/2026

In Madre de Dios, Peru, a group of women miners is transforming the artisanal and small-scale mining industry by adopting sustainable, mercury-free technologies.

Our new video series from Pure Earth Peru is spotlighting these inspiring women, starting with Evelyn Celadita, a miner leading efforts to improve sustainability and reforest land in the Amazon damaged by pollution.

Watch Evelyn's story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmt9gIt-xPE

In Madre de Dios, Peru, Evelyn Celadita leads a mining concession and is part of AMATAF, an association of artisanal miners working toward responsible, mercu...

05/15/2026

Across India, children are being exposed to toxic lead through turmeric.

A new study published in Nature, with contributions from researchers at Pure Earth, analyzed turmeric samples collected across five eastern states in India. Of the 503 samples tested, nearly 30% exceeded India’s permissible lead limits.

Why is this happening? Because, in parts of the country where regulation and enforcement remain inconsistent, lead chromate, an industrial pigment, is sometimes added to turmeric to create a brighter yellow color.

The consequences are serious. Lead exposure in children is linked to lower IQ, cardiovascular disease, and lifelong impacts on health and economic potential.

Lead pollution is a solvable problem. And solving it requires sustained collaboration across government, industry, researchers, and communities. The findings from this study underscore the need for stronger enforcement, better supply chain oversight, and targeted interventions that can prevent exposure before it reaches households and children.

Access the full article here:

Food adulteration poses a growing threat to the integrity of food systems and public health globally. This study investigated turmeric adulteration with lead chromate across five eastern Indian states through a combination of sample analysis and qualitative supply chain assessments. We collected 503...

05/13/2026

Lead poisoning prevention is a collaborative effort of expert partners committed to protecting children from exposures by tackling this issue at scale. But one of our biggest challenges is that people don't know enough about the issue.

Please join some of our partners at Resolve to Save Lives, the World Health Organization (WHO), and Bloomberg Philanthropies on this virtual conversation where they will provide an overview of the WHO's new Technical Package for Lead Poisoning Prevention and share more about the burden of disease caused by lead exposure.

We look forward to hearing from them on May 18th!

RSVP:

This event will set the stage for a new WHO Technical Package for Lead Poisoning Prevention, to be released together with the Global Action Plan on Lead Mitigation in 2027

05/11/2026

"Lucrative and deadly." The scrap trade in Ghana is complicated, and lead—the silent killer—can be found in the soil, the air, in cooking pots, and more.

Spend 11 minutes with our new documentary, made by Pure Earth Ghana, exploring the complexity of contamination and the need for scaling protection.

This essential work is funded by the Australian Government and partner stakeholders.

In communities such as Kpone-Katamanso, Shai Osudoku, and Afienya, informal used lead-acid battery (ULAB) recycling and scrap activities provide livelihoods ...

05/08/2026

Pure Earth India is leading the way to lead-free spices in Bihar!

Last month, the Directorate Of Horticulture, Government of Bihar, Department of Agriculture, Government of Bihar convened a landmark State-Level Workshop on Lead Toxicity and Mitigation of Lead in Spices, bringing together district horticulture officers, FPO representatives, health officials, and food safety agencies. Pure Earth India provided technical and logistical support for the workshop, sharing our proven five-step approach to lead mitigation and presenting evidence of lead adulteration in turmeric, especially dried roots.

At the end of the workshop, all 111 participants expressed their commitment to advance safe, clean, and standard-compliant spice production across the state.

Lead adulteration in turmeric, through the addition of lead chromate to enhance color and shelf life, is a serious public health challenge. The workshop set the stage for coordinated, multisectoral action. Acting on these priorities is a potential way forward for lead-free turmeric production in Bihar:

✅ Developing scalable lead-safe production and processing practices for turmeric
✅ Training and capacity-building materials for district officials
✅ Strengthening consumer and farmer awareness
✅ Strengthening surveillance and enforcement

This is what the path to a lead-free future looks like — governments leading, evidence driving action, and communities at the center. We are proud to support the Government of Bihar's journey as part of our global mission to eliminate lead exposure at its source.

05/04/2026

Curious which countries rank the highest for # of children with lead poisoning according to the latest IHME estimates?

Pure Earth just launched a new analytical tool on leadpollution.org that enables users to compare the burden of lead exposure across countries. Researchers, funders, and implementers can access the latest lead exposure estimates to generate country rankings.

You can even customize with multiple indicators, such as per-capita exposure, severity, and cardiovascular outcomes, to generate a transparent, customizable scoring system.

Check it out now at leadpollution.org

If you're a researcher and you have questions or feedback on this tool, let us know at [email protected].

04/29/2026

Ethiopia is no longer just responding to lead pollution; it's building a national system to prevent exposures before they happen.

An estimated 21 million children in Ethiopia have elevated blood lead levels. To solve this public health crisis, Pure Earth Ethiopia is working with government institutions and partner organizations to address lead pollution through the country’s Lead Technical Working Group (LTWG).

This month, working group members visited a contaminated site in Addis Ababa. The site told a powerful story. With no drainage system in place, pollutants seeped silently into the soil. Workers handled hazardous battery materials without even basic protective equipment. And this was not an outlier; an estimated 1,600 sites just like it operate across Addis Ababa alone.

That reality didn't stay in the field. It led to two days of intensive planning, where the working group translated what they saw into a concrete six-month national action plan.

This is what change looks like when it's built from the ground up.

Read more on the Pure Earth Blog: https://www.pureearth.org/from-shadows-to-action-strengthening-inter-sectoral-collaboration-against-lead-exposure-in-ethiopia/

04/24/2026

This week, at The Impact Lounge, Pure Earth joined leaders from the World Bank, UNDP, The Audacious Project, and the Storytelling Solutions Project to explore how visual storytelling drives social impact, including a screening of our award-winning documentary, "One in 36 Million."

"One in 36 Million" follows Saim, a young boy in Bangladesh growing up in a lead-contaminated village. Produced by Pure Earth Bangladesh, the film demonstrates how we can increase protections for people exposed to toxic lead pollution. Following the film screening, Pure Earth President Drew McCartor discussed what it takes to solve lead pollution and why the time to act is now.

Watch the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8vb-c5rb8I&t=26s

Photo credit: Fisher Studios