Study of Aluminum Cookware at Educational Institutions – Tamil Nadu, India

In our recent  Rapid Market Survey (RMS) across multiple countries, combining various states and cities in India, including Tamil Nadu, the findings indicate elevated levels of lead in locally produced metallic cookware, spice, and certain consumer products. This raises concerns about potential lead exposure in schools.

Within this project, researchers will collect samples of cookware, spices, and other products from selected schools. Our goal is to identify potential sources of lead exposure and, if they exist, recommend interventions to mitigate this exposure and ultimately eliminate or restrict these sources of lead exposure.

This cookware analysis is connected to a broader effort in response to the surprisingly high prevalence of lead-contaminated cookware we found in the Rapid Market Survey across 25 countries. But the prevalence of lead in alumnium and mixed metal cookware alone does not tell us much about actual exposures.

To better understand real exposure risks, Pure Earth has embarked on a substantial analysis of the leachability of this lead to understand actual risks from daily use to not only analyze what we have learned, but to translate that knowledge into future risk mitigation programs.

The plan includes conducting supply chain analyses in select countries where the RMS revealed high percentages of contaminated aluminum cookware; assessing the impact of this cookware on food safety and children’s health in school settings in 3 countries, and piloting interventions, i.e., exchanging cookware, based on the findings to mitigate lead exposures; designing the methodology and framework for future core research to better understand aluminum cookware’s metallurgy, leaching properties, mitigation strategies for large scale and artisanal producers.