Lead pollution poses a grave threat to children: speakers

Speakers warn that lead pollution severely harms children’s health and development, as DoE and Pure Earth review progress, enforcement efforts and plans to reduce contamination across Bangladesh, nationwide public awareness.

Speakers at a meeting highlighted that lead pollution poses serious risks to children’s mental and physical development, public health and long-term economic growth.

The Department of Environment (DoE), in collaboration with Pure Earth Bangladesh, held an information-sharing meeting on activities undertaken to prevent lead pollution at the DoE conference room on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by Additional Director General of the Department of Environment, Md Ziaul Haque.

Participants reviewed the progress of year-long activities implemented by Pure Earth to reduce lead contamination and discussed the action plan for 2026. The meeting was organised under the project titled “Capacity Building for the Reduction of Lead Contamination in Bangladesh (FFEM Project),” jointly implemented by the Department of Environment and Pure Earth.

Presiding over the meeting, Additional Director General Md Ziaul Haque said the Department of Environment would continue to work jointly with Pure Earth to implement various initiatives aimed at preventing lead pollution. He added that since there is no safe level of lead exposure, raising public awareness alongside necessary preventive measures is crucial to tackling the issue.

Director (Monitoring and Enforcement) of the Department of Environment, Syed Farhad Hossain, said the DoE has been conducting regular enforcement drives across the country to curb lead pollution, including monitoring and compliance actions against illegal and unsafe practices.

Speakers noted that Bangladesh is among the top four most lead-contaminated countries in the world, with an estimated 36 million children, around 60 percent of the total, having elevated blood lead levels.

DoE officials, Mitali Das, country director of Pure Earth Bangladesh and other relevant stakeholders were present at the meeting.