Lead exposure in the United States is a real problem stemming from its widespread use in almost every house built before 1950. Since our housing stock was never totally destroyed like much of Europe, we have around 25 million homes in the United States today with an active lead hazard.
Today you can find traces of the lead in many things from the worldwide contamination from gas, soil and food harbor the burned lead from all those cars that made America great during the economic boom after World War Two. However The United States phased out leaded gas in the 80’s and banned paint in the 70’s, Since then we have seen a blood lead level reduction of over 90%.
If you live in New York you will probably root for the Mets or the Yankees, If you lived in ancient Rome you would have potentially been a fan of the chariot races, the same is true for lead exposure. Populations are exposed to lead circumstantially, and ironically Americans are likely more aware of the lead consumption of Romans who lived thousands of years ago than our brothers and sisters living right now on the other side of the world.
Africa, Asia and South America are places which are experiencing economic growth today that Americans experienced 40 or 50 years ago. Consequently the laws in these places are more like the laws of the mid 1900’s rather than our mature legal system, which has adapted to the changing economic situation for the past 50 years.
That's why there is a global lead exposure crisis, 1 in two children in developing nations are poisoned with lead right now. In America that number is 2 & 1/2 in 100. 2.5% of Americas children have a blood lead level over 3.5 micrograms/ Deciliter. Compare that with 50% of children in developing nations.
This week, UNICEF and USAID convened in NYC to address the affliction of lead poisoning worldwide. I mean the numbers are scary. Globally 1 in 3 children have lead poisoning.
Many developing nations lack the formal legal structure to protect people, many have not banned lead paint, pipes or regulated lead in soil or food. Informal lead acid battery recycling is a real issue in many places. Raw aluminum cookware and other household items that contain high amounts of lead are in many cases completely unregulated. Our US informed outrage at Stanley Cups for containing lead seems quite first world when you consider the widespread use of actually unsafe cookware and spices in places like India.
I was lucky enough to be invited to the UNICEF building to make a video and mingle with the leaders and their representatives who care and are trying to make a change about the lead poisoning issue. Here's what I learned. The UNICEF and USAID formed an international alliance backed by substantial funding to reverse the paradigm of the lead poisoning problem. Their collaborative plan has already raised $150 million dollars - which is 10x more than the $15 million current amount being invested annually that is being invested in global lead poisoning prevention. Food supplies and other remediation actions can be reformed for only a few million dollars in an entire country and this saves thousands of lives, so this huge increase in investment dollars from private and public entities should make a huge difference. The commitment to modernizing their lead prevention protocols means a brighter future for humanity. You can check out the press conference at the link below.
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