July 19, 2024: Pure Earth, an environmental not-for-profit that specialises in lead and mercury contamination and TAUW, a European consultancy, have released a report that evaluated over a dozen methods to detect lead in soil.

 The aim of the study was to identify low-cost tools to scale up efforts to prevent lead exposure and poisoning.

Current detection methods, such as handheld X-Ray Fluorescence analyzers, though effective, are expensive. They also require specialized training.

“If we can provide a set of tools for residents and local governments to identify a source of lead pollution in a quick and affordable manner, the exposure risk becomes tangible,” says Ilona van der Kroef, a hazardous waste consultant with TAUW.

“The best available data from Indian institutions and others suggest that half of all children in the country have harmful levels of lead in their blood,” says Pure Earth. “Lead exposure results in decreased IQ, behavioral problems, cardiovascular damage, stunted growth, and even premature death.”

The project report, The Assessment Of Lead Detection Methods In Tamil Nadu India And Beyond, details the investigation beginning with an evaluation of 13 potential low-cost lead detection methods, selecting four for further testing: ferric ferrocyanide (Prussian Blue), sodium rhodizonate, RGB Image Recognition, and Lumetallix.

Following laboratory and field tests, two methods, sodium rhodizonate and Lumetallix, showed promise and were subjected to field trials in Tamil Nadu.

The research team concluded that when developing lead poisoning prevention programs with community involvement, a combination of the three techniques — sodium rhodizonate, Lumetallix, and handheld XRF analyzer or conventional laboratory analyses — should be viewed as complementary.

Both sodium rhodizonate and Lumetallix could be utilized by communities to pre-screen an area. Both tests change colour in the presence of lead. With Lumetallix, the affected area changes colour to green when UV light is applied.

Separately, Pure Earth, has released a report showing that up to 38% of childhood lead poisoning cases across four United States jurisdictions were associated with exposures to consumer products. Lead-containing consumer products, which include certain spices, cosmetics, ceramics, metal cookware, traditional health remedies and cultural powders, are mostly manufactured in low and middle-income countries, the report said.