It is highly alarming that Bangladesh ranks fourth in the world when it comes to lead poisoning in children.
United Nations Children’s fund (UNICEF) along with the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), and the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) after running tests on 980 children in Khulna, Tangail, Patuakhali and Sylhet districts with 500 children in Dhaka has identified the presence of lead in all of their blood.
Among the samples, 40 per cent of the samples from the four districts and 80 per cent of the samples from Dhaka contained more than five micrograms of lead per decilitre of blood which goes above the maximum limit determined by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, we need to keep this in mind that no level of lead being present in the blood of children is safe.
Lead in children’s blood affects their brain development and almost all of their organs. In the case of elderly people lead in the blood causes cardiovascular diseases while for pregnant women it affects their unborn children.
The source of lead in children’s blood is the batteries from battery-powered rickshaws and solar panels. Once these batteries are expired they are discarded. The dead batteries are thrown into fire to extract the lead. That lead is then reused to make new batteries. In this process, some of the lead leaks out and gets absorbed into the environment.
The lead mixed in water, soil and air then enters the human body through food. The risk of children coming in contact of poisonous substance keeps rising due to the increase of heavy metal pollution in environment from rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.
In order to create a lead-free environment, it is essential to detect lead poisoning and to seal off the ways of coming in contact with lead. It must be ensured that every single child can grow up in an environment free of lead and poisonous metal. UNICEF has agreed to provide assistance in this regard.
UNICEF has talked about adopting a multifaceted action plan to take measures against lead pollution and to reinforce the capacity of testing laboratories in the health and environment sector for testing the presence of heavy metal. However, the main task must to be carried out by the government.
A research run by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and environmental organisation Pure Earth stated that there is 5 micrograms of lead in per decilitre of blood in every single bodies of 800 million (80 crore) children around the world. This lead constricts the development of vital organs like brain, nerves, heart and lungs in children.
According to experts, when lead enters the human body it doesn’t get out of the system easily. Lead usually gets absorbed in bones and teeth of the human body. We cannot also shun the use of lead in machineries completely because of the everyday necessities. There’s no alternative to scientific use of lead if we are to be free of its danger.
The government has also taken some positive steps in this regard. The use of lead in all sorts of paint and fuel oil has been banned already. However alike many other sectors in Bangladesh, there remains a huge gap between the government taking a decision and implementing it also in this case.
Hopefully, mobilising public awareness about the sources of lead, harmful effects of this material, remedies and the ways to prevent lead infection would produce good result. Strict enforcement of law and monitoring can prevent lead from getting mixed in children's blood.