The Lead-Free Water Pledge: Steps Towards a Future of Lead-Free Drinking Water

Young children and infants are particularly sensitive to the harmful effects of lead. Current statistics suggest that approximately one in three children worldwide have elevated blood lead levels. Credit: Eva Bartlett/IPS By Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi and Aaron SalzburgCHAPEL HILL, NC, US, May 23 2023 (IPS) At the UN Water Conference in March 2023, the Water Institute at the University of North Carolina (UNC) along with several key partners, including UNICEF, Water Aid, the World Health Organization, and the governments of Ghana, Uganda, and South Africa, among others, organized a session centered around the elimination of lead in drinking water across the globe. During the session, the various institutional partners articulated a vision of eliminating lead from all drinking water supplies by 2040. This vision, dubbed the “Global Pledge to Protect Drinking Water from Lead” (Lead-Free Water Pledge, for short), begins by outlining concrete steps for phasing out lead-leaching materials for new drinking water systems by 2030. As long as lead is present in drinking water, we as a society are condemning millions (if not billions) of people to futures of health issues and reduced earning potentials in the decades to come. The vision articulated by the Lead-Free Water Pledge is one of many necessary steps that we as a global society must take to ensure access to safe drinking water to people around the world The pledge’s two-pronged approach recognizes the complexity of eliminat...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Environment Global Headlines Health Water & Sanitation Source Type: news