Our Impact

How Pure Earth is Making a Difference

Pure Earth works with governments, communities, and industry leaders to sustainably address the root causes of pollution and exposure to toxins.

For more than 25 years, Pure Earth and our partners have made significant strides in combating lead and mercury pollution worldwide, improving health and well-being in the communities where we work. Working out of 10 regional offices around the world, Pure Earth’s global team of nearly 100 professionals has completed nearly 340 projects in more than 50 low- and middle-income countries.

In 2025, the Happier Lives Institute (HLI) ranked Pure Earth as the most cost-effective charity for improving wellbeing. Their global review of published evidence found that Pure Earth is “hundreds of times better at increasing happiness per dollar than other charities.”

Discover how we’re making a difference worldwide. Explore our results, stories, and impact reports below.

Stories from the Field: Hear Pure Earth's Impact Directly From Communities

Rina's Story: Cleaning Up Lead Contamination in Bangladesh

The Lead Rush: A Future Free from Lead Poisoning in Senegal

Gold Miners Talk About Bringing Change to the Peruvian Amazon

Global Lead Program Results and Achievements

Since 2020, Pure Earth’s Global Lead Program has made important strides towards measurably and sustainably reducing lead pollution and poisoning in the countries where we work.

The Global Lead Program has been instrumental in elevating lead exposure as a priority for action by governments, policymakers, major funders, and other national and global actors. By bringing greater visibility and increased understanding of lead exposure through the generation of new data and evidence on its prevalence, severity, and sources, and through advocacy around impacts and interventions to prevent or mitigate it, the importance of tackling lead exposure is steadily gaining traction. Pure Earth supports a transition to a lead-free economy and will continue working diligently to improve the safety of as many products and industrial processes as possible until that day comes.

Learn more about the impact of our Global Lead Program with our Global Lead Program Results and Achievements Reports.

Annual Reports

Our Annual Reports provide a closer look at how we are creating a healthier, safer world for children and families. They show how donor support translates into real-world impact—saving lives, informing global policy, and cleaning up toxic pollution.

In 2023-2024, we led 35 projects, surveyed 259 polluted sites, administered 11,676 blood lead level (BLL) tests, assessed 907 homes for lead exposure, and tested over 5,800 consumer products.

We played a leading role in the launch of the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future at the UN General Assembly, an ambitious global effort backed by USAID, UNICEF, WHO, three heads of state, and 38 partners across 26 countries, all committed to ending childhood lead poisoning by 2040.

Our research exposed dangerous levels of lead in everyday items like cookware, spices, and cosmetics sold around the world. These findings are now driving critical improvements in product safety.

Elevating the Lead Poisoning Issue: Achievements in Advocacy and Awareness

Lead poisoning poses a serious health risk. 800 million children are poisoned by lead, and 1.6 to 5.5 million people die from it every year. A lack of awareness about lead poisoning among governments, industry, and communities exacerbates the lead issue. That’s why, through our Global Lead Program, Pure Earth is focused on bringing greater attention to the issue of pollution.

Learn more about how Pure Earth increased the profile of lead exposure in 2024, elevating lead poisoning prevention as a priority for governments, policymakers, multi-laterals, and funders.

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