Saem, a second grader, can hardly recall events he just went through since his family has been living near a lead battery-recycling factory in Mirzapur town in Tangail district, 54 kilometres northwest of the capital.
The family rushed to the doctor following the worrying development in the boy. Saem's medical test and blood-sample test indicated that his blood is carrying high level of lead which caused issues in his nervous system.
All the children's blood samples tested in a study revealed on Tuesday an alarming level of lead, and Saem was among the lead affected victims. However, zero level of lead in blood is safe for human health.
Lead damages the cerebration or brains of children less than 5 years, causing them lifelong neurological, cognitive, and physical impairment while Bangladesh is one of the most severely lead-impacted countries with more than 35.5 million babies affected.
The findings were shared at a seminar titled 'Lead poisoning in Bangladesh: Research Evidence for Urgent Action' with the theme 'Together we can solve lead pollution' held in the city, organised by the Directorate General of Health Services, ICDDR,B and UNICEF.
A total of seven studies were shared at the event.
All 980 children tested had lead in their blood and 65 per cent had blood lead levels above the US Center for Disease Control limit of 3.5 micrograms per decilitre, the level at which interventions should be started to stop the exposure to lead.
Another rapid market screening study found lead in 96 out of 367 samples tested. The samples included locally produced toys, paints, aluminium and silver cookware, sweetener containers, vegetables, rice and a good many spices taken from markets for tests in four cities - Dhaka, Barisal, Rajshahi and Khulna.
UNICEF Bangladesh Representative Sheldon Yate told the FE outside of the event that "Something innocent in toys could be deadly for our child."
"Unless we monitor and control the lead content in toys we cannot control what is happening to our children," he said, cautioning that lead in toys is alarming in Bangladesh and, therefore, the concerned authorities should monitor the situation.
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md Shahab Uddin, who addressed the event as the chief guest, noted that the Department of Environment (DoE) frequently conducts enforcement against illegal battery manufacturing and recycling activities. He, however, admitted that only enforcement may not bring the desired result (in this regard), saying "Rather, we need massive awareness."
Another recent article also shared at the presentation study by the icddr,b team that examined lead level in the blood of 500 children in Dhaka city. Lead was found in the blood of all the children.
Study also identified multiple possible sources of lead exposure in rural Bangladesh. Isotopic analysis confirmed that adulterated turmeric is the source of high lead level in the blood of pregnant women.
ESDO conducted a study to determine the lead content of popular household and industrial paints in Bangladesh and compare the situation with the previous year. Of the samples analysed, 30.8 per cent contained high lead content (ranging from 90ppm to 250ppm). The remaining 69.2 per cent of decorative paints contain less than 90ppm of lead.
The study said that there is no lead test in blood diagnosis services at public and private healthcare facilities in Bangladesh. If actions are not taken immediately, the country may face severe consequences as lead effects in both mental and physical health of children, experts warned at the event.
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