The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries to step up measures to protect their populations from lead poisoning. More than 3.5 million people die each year as a result of lead exposure, with children being particularly vulnerable, according to a WHO statement.
The organization described lead poisoning as “a widespread but preventable health threat estimated to cause more than 3.5 million deaths worldwide each year.” Hundreds of millions of children are at risk. The WHO is calling on the international community to “intensify efforts to prevent lead exposure.”
Potential sources of harmful lead exposure include “paint, cookware, cosmetics, spices, informal waste recycling practices, industrial pollution, and many others.” The organization stressed that “there is no safe level of lead exposure: even relatively low doses can cause irreversible harm.”
The WHO’s call comes ahead of International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, which will take place from October 18 to 24 this year. The organization highlighted “growing political will to address lead poisoning on a global scale.”
At the same time, the WHO noted that despite progress made worldwide over recent decades in preventing lead poisoning, “fewer than half of all countries have introduced legally binding controls on lead-containing paints.”
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