Lead-Free Future for Every Child Webinar Series: Understanding sources of lead exposure
Lead poisoning remains one of the most serious, yet often overlooked, global public health challenges. Even small amounts of lead exposure can have devastating, lifelong effects on children, damaging their developing bodies and brains. Crucially, there is no safe level of lead exposure—and once damage occurs, it cannot be reversed. Prevention is our only line of defense.
Shockingly, nearly 800 million children worldwide—almost one-third of all children—are affected by lead poisoning. This silent epidemic contributes to illness, disability, and death across every region of the globe. While the highest concentrations of children with dangerous lead levels are found in Asia and Africa, children in Central and South America, Eastern Europe and even pockets of high-income countries are also at risk.
As part of International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future invites you to the inaugural session of the "Lead-Free Future for Every Child" webinar series. This webinar will provide:
- An overview of childhood lead exposure, including key known sources.
- A case study on Montevideo’s successful lead mitigation programme, offering real-world solutions and insights.
- An update on the Toolkit to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, a vital resource for governments aiming to combat this urgent issue nationally.
Speakers:
- Salah Abudu, Youth Advocate from Ghana
- Mary Jean Brown, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences. T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, USA
- Amalia Laborde, Professor of Toxicology, Universidad de la República, Uruguay
- Angela Bandemehr, EPA International Lead Pollution Capacity Building Program Manager, Environmental Protection Agency, USA
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