Happening today at 9 AM ET! Join Pure Earth's President Drew McCartor for a virtual conversation hosted by Devex and The Audacious Project. Drew will discuss how philanthropy can help countries move from awareness to lasting, system-level action on lead poisoning. RSVP here:

Watch this conversation with Pure Earth President Drew McCartor as he shares how Pure Earth’s Audacious Project will address lead poisoning in low- and middle-income countries.

In a new article from The Examination, Esmond Wisdom Quansah, Pure Earth's Regional Director for Africa, highlights the ongoing risks facing a community in the Republic of the Congo still living with the consequences of lead contamination. Read the full story to learn more:

Pure Earth Indonesia has successfully completed the first phase of the Blood Lead Surveillance (BLS) Pilot. Watch our video to learn more about how this pilot was implemented, from training the field team and collecting blood samples, to conducting home visits and communicating results to families.

New from the Pollution Blog! Learn about our reforestation work in Madre de Dios, Peru. At the Saltur VI mining concession, miners have begun to reforest one hectare of land previously impacted by mining, including planting 1,800 new plants. Learn more:

Pure Earth President Drew McCartor will be speaking on the mainstage at TED2026 in Vancouver about one of the world’s most urgent, but overlooked, public health crises: lead poisoning. Learn more about Pure Earth's #AudaciousProject: https://www.pureearth.org/protect-500-million-children/

Pure Earth is on Threads! Follow us for important updates on our transformative work solving toxic pollution around the world.

New research from @cgdev.org highlights the link between off-grid solar energy and global lead poisoning. The paper estimates that the off-grid solar sector generates between 250,000 and 1.5 million tonnes of used lead-acid battery (ULAB) waste per year.

Lead poisoning affects half of children in low- and middle-income countries. But this crisis is solvable. Pure Earth works with governments to scale proven, data-driven solutions that reduce exposure, strengthen public systems, and protect children’s health for the long term. Learn more:

For over 25 years, Pure Earth has worked with governments and communities around the world to reduce exposure to toxic pollutants and protect children’s health. Through TED’s Audacious Project, we’re now scaling that proven model to tackle lead poisoning in over 20 countries. Learn more:

One billion children are affected by lead poisoning worldwide, damaging brain development, limiting learning, and increasing lifelong health risks. With support through The Audacious Project, Pure Earth is launching a new project to protect half of all children harmed by lead by 2033. Learn more:

Pure Earth has been named a 2025 Audacious Project grantee. Working in 20+ countries, Pure Earth will launch one of the most ambitious responses to global lead poisoning in history. Here’s how we’ll do it (🧵1/6):

We are proud to support @pureearthnow.bsky.social's Audacious vision as a partner to protect over 500m children from lead poisoning by 2033. The initiative will prevent lead exposure at its source by collaborating with govts to strengthen systems and build lasting protections for children’s health.

Pure Earth has been named a 2025 Audacious Project grantee. Our Audacious goal: help protect more than 500 million children from lead poisoning. This is a turning point in the global effort to tackle lead poisoning at the scale of the problem. Learn more: www.pureearth.org/protect-500-...

Pure Earth is a global leader in improving public health and development outcomes by reducing exposure to lead and other toxic pollutants. We partner with governments to scale evidence-based solutions, turning data into action to prevent toxic exposures. Watch our latest video to learn more:

A new analysis from the Center for Global Development (@cgdev.org) explores whether lead poisoning may be a missing link in the global fight against child malnutrition. Check out the full blog here:

Our latest blog from Pure Earth Ghana argues for integrating blood lead surveillance into the country’s maternal and child health (MCH) system, aligning policy, programmatic delivery, and environmental health monitoring to generate actionable data and advance equity in child health.

Have you explored our global lead pollution data map? One of our critical open-access resources on lead, leadpollution.org is an interactive map and data repository on lead pollution. Check it out at leadpollution.org

Pure Earth is working around the world to protect vulnerable communities from heavy metal pollution—and you can join us. Subscribe to our newsletter to access technical resources, program updates, pollution news, and more. Subscribe now at www.pureearth.org/take-action/...

Pure Earth established the Lead Cookware Working Group to address the critical, emerging issue of lead contamination in metallic cookware and other consumer goods. Learn more about the Lead Cookware Working Group: www.pureearth.org/project/lead...

Upcoming Webinar! Alfonso Rodríguez Pinilla, Technical Director for Pure Earth, will be a featured panelist in a webinar from Conservation X Labs on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). Join the webinar on Tuesday, January 20th at 12 PM Eastern. RSVP here: www.getdrip.com/broadcasts/9...

Join us for Gold Reimagined 2026, a webinar on outcomes and lessons from open innovation in #ASGM and our Artisanal Mining Grand Challenges. 📅 Tuesday, January 20 | 12pm ET Simultaneous interpretation (English/Spanish) Register: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Pure Earth was featured in a new article in the Observer that examines why childhood lead poisoning continues to persist in the U.S., despite long-standing evidence of lead’s risks and existing solutions to address exposure. Read the full article here:

New from the Pollution Blog: Learn about Pure Earth Peru’s progress in reducing toxic exposures in 2025. Key advances include promoting mercury-free mining in Madre de Dios, strengthening national capacity to respond to lead exposures, and advancing regional coordination across Latin America.

Pure Earth Peru is making exciting progress to reduce mercury pollution in the Amazon from artisanal and small-scale gold mining. (1/3)

Could your eyeliner be toxic? Earlier this year, Consumer Reports' study found concerning levels of carcinogens in synthetic braiding hair. Now a new beauty safety investigation from Pure Earth found concerning levels of lead in more than half of the 56 eyeliner samples it tested.

Pure Earth researchers tested 56 samples of kohl, kajal, & surma eyeliners available for purchase in the U.S. and found that over half of them contained dangerous levels of lead. Our report confirms that these products can pose health risks to consumers in the U.S. www.pureearth.org/lead-in-trad...

@consumerreports.org has published new reporting on research from Pure Earth, which finds that many imported traditional eyeliners available in the U.S. are contaminated with lead. Read the article here: www.consumerreports.org/product-safe...

Vox picked Pure Earth as one of their recommended charities to donate to this giving season. While the extent of the lead poisoning crisis is enormous, Vox highlighted Pure Earth for our successful interventions and proven leadership in mitigating lead exposures. (1/2)

The FDA is warning consumers about 19 types of cookware that may contain lead, increasing the risk that the toxic metal could wind up in people's food. Testing by the FDA and state agencies found that the contaminated cookware can leach lead into food. (1/2)

In Bangladesh, lead poisoning affects an estimated 36 million children. Pure Earth Bangladesh educated hundreds of youth leaders about our country’s unsafe battery recycling crisis. Watch Country Director, Mitali Das, talk about our work preventing lead poisoning in Bangladesh (1/2):

Unsafe lead recycling is entering global supply chains and poisoning children worldwide. New reporting from @theexamination.org and @nytimes.com shows how lead from substandard ULAB plants in Nigeria ends up in cars in high-income countries. Learn how Pure Earth is making ULAB recycling safer:

Pure Earth’s 2024-2025 Annual Report is here. Explore our impact, read stories from our work solving pollution in low- and middle-income countries, and learn more about the successes made possible by our global community. Check it out now:

Automakers celebrate their efforts to source materials ethically, but most of them ignore lead — even though some of the lead in conventional car batteries comes from recycling plants in developing countries that spew poisonous smoke into the air.

Must-read article: New reporting from The Examination uncovers how the battery-recycling industry has fueled the lead poisoning crisis in Africa. 7 out of ten people tested living near battery-recycling factories in Ogijo, Nigeria, had harmful levels of lead, including half of the children tested.

A new audio story from The World highlights Pure Earth’s efforts to reduce mercury pollution from artisanal and small-scale gold mining. France Cabanillas, Project Coordinator at Pure Earth Peru, discusses our interventions in Madre de Dios, Peru, helping miners switch to sustainable technologies.

Pure Earth Philippines celebrated the country's first city-led blood lead surveillance program in Valenzuela City during International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 2025. Watch to learn more about this achievement:

1 in 3 children, that's 800 million, have dangerous levels of lead in their blood. With @pureearthnow.bsky.social Takeda Pharmaceuticals & Health Ministries in 5 countries, we’re building systems to detect & prevent lead exposure. Watch how countries are taking action www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4OS...

Pure Earth was featured in a new article from the Observer, highlighting the human and environmental toll of mercury pollution from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). Read the full article here:

This International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, Pure Earth stands with WHO and global partners to affirm there is no safe level of lead exposure. Join us to end lead poisoning. www.who.int/campaigns/in... #NoSafeLevel #ILPPW2025 #SolveLeadPollution2025

This week is International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, a week dedicated to raising awareness of the health impacts of lead exposure. Follow along as we share research, project updates, and highlights from our work targeting pollution around the world. #NoSafeLevel #SolveLeadPollution2025

Last online event of the week ahead of #MinamataCOP6: 📍 16h30-17h30 CEST: Evaluating Mercury’s Impact on the Food Chain Across Six Mining Regions in Ghana (organized by @pureearthnow.bsky.social) We will post presentations & videos here: minamataconvention.org/en/meetings/... #MakeMercuryHistory

New research from Pure Earth finds that traditional curing methods for lead-glazed ceramics in Mexico don’t stop lead from leaching into food—and may even make it more available, increasing health risks. Access the study here: www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/13...

For years, mercury has been used to extract gold in mining communities in Ghana, causing disastrous health effects for the miners and surrounding communities. Powerful reporting from Reuters covers Pure Earth Ghana's new report on the consequences of the illegal gold mining industry in Ghana.

Today, Pure Earth staff attended a critical convening of anti-pollution experts at the 2025 UN General Assembly. #UNGA80 As part of the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future, this high-level event brought together global leaders to accelerate action and investment to end childhood lead exposure.

At #UNGA, we co-hosted an event with @pureearthnow.bsky.social focused on advancing a lead-free future. Dan Kass, our Senior Vice President of Environmental, Climate and Urban Health, highlighted the devastating impact of lead exposure on children and communities.

We're excited to share that Pure Earth launched an Opportunity Fund to support short-term projects targeting lead poisoning in low- and middle-income countries. Grants ranging from USD $10,000-$100,000 will be awarded for selected projects. Apply & learn more: www.pureearth.org/opportunity-...

A new law has been passed in California requiring that prenatal multivitamins must be tested for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, with the results disclosed on the brand’s website. Read Unleaded Kids' analysis of the new legislation to learn more:

This week, Pure Earth Ghana and the All-Africa Students Union (AASU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance a shared vision for a cleaner, healthier Africa. Read more:

Pure Earth welcomes Dr. Richard Reithinger as our new VP of Programs! A global public health leader with 25+ years of experience, Richard will guide our work protecting children and communities from toxic pollution. Read more: www.pureearth.org/pure-earth-a...