New research published in The Lancet Planetary Health serves as an urgent call to action

Lancet Planetary Health article: Global health burden and cost of lead exposure in children and adults: A health impact and economic modeling analysis

New World Bank research published in The Lancet Planetary Health reveals a dramatically greater burden and cost of lead exposure on IQ loss in children and on cardiovascular deaths in adults, six-fold greater than previously thought, and an estimated global cost of US$6 trillion.

Published on September 12, 2023, The Lancet Planetary Health paper showed the level of harm due to lead exposure is greater than previously thought. Specifically, based on data from 2019, the report showed:

• Children under five years old worldwide lost 765 million IQ points. Those living in LMICs lost 729 million IQ points, an average loss of 5.9 IQ points per child. This IQ point loss is 80% greater than previously estimated.
• 5 million adults died from cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to lead exposure; this is six times greater than the 2019 estimate by the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD).
  • Previous estimates included CVD deaths only from lead-mediated high blood pressure
  • The new mortality calculation is based on the lead’s estimated effects on CVD deaths caused by factors other than high blood pressure, e.g., damage to the heart and arteries due to atherosclerosis and increased incidence of stroke 
• About 90% of CVD deaths and 95% of IQ point loss due to lead exposure were in LMICs
• The global financial cost of lead exposure was US$6 trillion, equivalent to 7% of global GDP. In LMICs, these costs accounted for more than 10% of GDP, or twice as high as in High Income Countries (HICs).
• More than three-fourths of the economic cost (77%) was due to CVD deaths and associated income loss from premature mortality; nearly one-fourth of the economic cost (23%) was due to estimates of lower future income caused by IQ loss

Pure Earth President Richard Fuller, who served as an advisor for the World Bank report, said, “Pure Earth’s RMS study and The Lancet Planetary Health report demonstrate that lead pollution knows no boundaries. While severe lead contamination is well documented in toxic hotspots that poison local communities in many LMICs, our research indicates that hundreds of millions of people have elevated blood lead levels due to continuous, long-term exposure to household lead sources increasing serious health risks across lifespans. More people are dying from cardiovascular disease caused by lead exposure than by cholesterol.”

Read the full Lancet Planetary Health report.

Read Pure Earth India’s response to the Lancet Planetary Health report in English, Hindi, Marathi, and Tamil.