Addressing the Global Lead Poisoning Crisis to Ensure Thriving Childhoods and Lifelong Health

Task Force 6: Accelerating SDGs: Exploring New Pathways to the 2030 Agenda The Challenge The global phase-out of leaded petrol—completed in 2021 [1] —ranks among the most ambitious and impactful public health achievements ever, saving an estimated 1.2 million lives and averting US$2.4 billion in economic losses every year. [2] However, despite this extraordinary achievement—and popular perception—lead poisoning has not yet been relegated to the history books. Lead poisoning persists within marginalised communities in high-income countries (HICS) and remains ubiquitous, yet invisible, across most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), representing one of the least recognised and most neglected challenges for global public health and development. Lead poisoning thus represents an insidious barrier to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including health, education, poverty, growth, and environmental protection targets. Lead is robbing children of their potential to learn and thrive Lead is a neurotoxin in humans and many animals; exposure in utero and in early childhood permanently alters neurological development, with lifelong effects on learning, cognition, and behaviour. Lead exposure is causally linked to poorer learning outcomes, and increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioural problems; there is also strong indicative evidence linking lead exposure to violence and delinquency. [3] Studies from the US [4] and Sweden [5] have shown associations between the cognitive effects of lead poisoning and decreases of 4 percent to 11 percent in lifetime earnings. The cognitive effects of lead are seen even at very low blood-lead concentrations, with escalating impacts as blood-lead levels (BLLs) increase. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a reference BLL at 5 µg/dL for clinical intervention; however, evidence suggests there is no safe level of lead, and substantial effects on cognition and behaviour have been documented below that threshold.