Lead Poisoning
Lead poisoning is estimated to account for about 1% of the global disease burden
This is a large burden for a problem that gets very little attention. On an individual level, being exposed to lead in the environment can hinder a child’s brain development: it can result in a reduction in IQ; cognitive function; and has been linked to higher levels of antisocial behavior.2 These impacts are thought to be largely irreversible. It’s not just damaging for individuals. It also comes at a large economic cost for society at large. Impacts on brain development, cognitive function, and productivity affect a country’s output and earning potential. Researchers estimate that in some countries, the costs of lead exposure are equivalent to as much as 6% of GDP. The cost of the problem is large because the numbers affected are too: figures compiled by UNICEF, Pure Earth, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and the World Health Organization estimates that lead poisoning affects around every third child in the world. Yet we spend so little on it. Just $7 million of philanthropic spending per year. For this reason, GiveWell – the charity evaluator that tries to identify where donor money could make the most difference – made its first large grant to a lead charity in 2021. In its assessment it notes that “Lead exposure appears to receive little philanthropic attention relative to the burden it imposes and may be a tractable problem to make progress on” and that “reducing lead exposure is one of the promising areas we identified as part of GiveWell’s work investigating giving opportunities to assist governments in low- and middle-income countries in the design and implementation of effective public health regulations.
Acknowledgements
Our World in Data