A few days ago, we visited a school, playground and homes in one neighborhood in Jakarta to test for toxic lead.

Children can get poisoned when they ingest lead flakes or lead dust that comes off of brightly painted playground equipment, worn desks, or windowsills (among others).

We collected soil samples and used an XRF to test for lead in a playground.

At a school, we used dust wipes to take samples of the floor and window sills.

We also tested homes in one neighborhood and spent time speaking to residents about cleaning habits and the ages and genders within each household.

Our goal is to eventually test 100 homes around Jakarta as part of a GEF — UNDP funded study to determine the extent of exposures to lead from paint and battery recycling in communities in Indonesia and the Philippines.

This project kicked off with a lead paint workshop on Monday that we organized with representatives of the Indonesian government and two local nonprofits — KPBB and Bali Fokus — to talk about lead in paint and potentials for residential exposures.