Human chain, rally held marking ‘International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week’

With the pledge "Together, we can solve lead pollution" – hundreds of young students, representatives from girl guides, NGO workers, activists, and volunteer groups carried out a procession and human chain with lead pollution prevention-related placards and banners at National Press Club in Dhaka on the occasion of "International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week." 

The event started with a rally started from the National Press Club at 10am on Saturday and ended with a human chain at the Central Shahid Minar.

The event was jointly organised by Pure Earth Bangladesh, and the Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) in collaboration with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Unicef, icddr,b, and IEDCR, reads a press release.

Dr Mahfuzar Rahman, country director, Pure Earth Bangladesh, Dr Shahriar Hossain, ecologist and general secretary, ESDO, Dr Mahbubur Rahman, project coordinator, icddr,b, and Didarul Alam, consultant of Unicef Bangladesh were present, attended the event as special guests.

More than 160 young students and volunteers from Green Club and Green Voice joined the procession and human chain supporting this year's International Lead Pollution Prevention campaign theme "Say No to Lead Poisoning."

Every year, the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (ILPPW) is observed globally to draw attention to the health impacts of lead exposure and accelerate efforts to prevent the use of lead in different sources. 

This year, the ILPPW campaign will be observed from 23 to 29 October to draw attention to the risks of lead exposure and emphasizes the need for action.

Dr Mahfuzar Rahman, country director, Pure Earth Bangladesh, said, "We need to work together with the government as we have identified lead in consumer products, and also the used lead-acid battery industry being the major source of lead pollution which need regulation and monitoring." 

"Youths are like bridges to our future and they will be in leadership positions in the future. So, they need to be involved in the transformation and we should mobilize them to take the initiative of solving the lead pollution crisis", he added.

Bangladesh is the 4th most lead-impacted country in the world, around 36 million Bangladeshi children (approximately 60%) have high blood lead levels that the World Health Organization recognizes as causing brain damage and IQ loss (> 5 μg/dL). 

Illegal used lead-acid battery (ULAB) recycling factories, lead-based paint, aluminium cookware, lead-painted toys, and pigment are the major sources of lead pollution in Bangladesh as found in several research studies.