{"id":34512,"date":"2024-12-30T21:29:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T15:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=34512"},"modified":"2024-12-30T21:29:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T15:59:44","slug":"lead-pollution-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-12-2024\/lead-pollution-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Lead Pollution in India Needs to be Strengthened"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The UNICEF report projected that nearly<strong> 275 million<\/strong> children out of the <strong>800 million <\/strong>affected by lead pollution reside in India, i.e. <strong>50 percent <\/strong>of India\u2019s child population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Lead?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lead (Pb) is in a <strong>bluish-white color<\/strong> and is <strong>soft and ductile metal.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is a naturally occurring <strong>toxic metal<\/strong> found in the Earth\u2019s crust.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is produced through decay of radioactive members of the natural decay series of the radioisotopes of uranium, namely <strong>U-235 and U-238, and Th-232.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Lead Poisoning?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lead poisoning is a serious health issue caused by the accumulation of lead in the body.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Normal range of lead in blood for adults: <\/strong>less than 10 micrograms per deciliter (\u00b5g\/dL).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>For children:<\/strong> less than 5 \u00b5g\/dL.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Countries with the highest burden are Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, Peru, Vietnam, the Philippines and parts of Central Africa.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Lead Poisoning in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The affected states are<\/strong> Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh accounting for <strong>40%<\/strong> of the population with high blood lead levels.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lead toxicity in India<\/strong> contributes to <strong>4.6 million<\/strong> Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and <strong>165,000 deaths<\/strong> annually.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sources of Lead Poisoning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Manufacturing and disposal of lead-based products <\/strong>like paints, batteries, and toys contribute significantly to environmental contamination.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Leaded Gasoline: <\/strong>Once a widespread source, leaded petrol was phased out globally (United States in 1975, India in 2000, and Algeria as the last in 2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Geological Processes: <\/strong>Volcanic eruptions release lead into the atmosphere.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Weathering of lead-rich rocks contributes to soil and water contamination.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Impact of Lead Poisoning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lead directly <strong>affects the nervous system<\/strong>, particularly in children, leading to developmental delays and cognitive impairments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It inhibits the absorption of essential nutrients like <strong>iron, zinc, and calcium<\/strong>, which are vital for brain and body growth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lead acts as a <strong>xenobiotic toxicant,<\/strong> promoting reactive oxygen species production, which damages <strong>DNA, RNA, and proteins.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government steps to control lead poisoning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis, Endemic Skeletal Fluorosis and Arsenicosis:<\/strong> It was launched in 2010 to take measures to prevent lead poisoning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Health Mission (NHM):<\/strong> It was initiated to provide comprehensive healthcare services, including screening for lead poisoning and treatment for affected individuals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lead Battery Waste Management Rules, 2016:<\/strong> It was formulated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to regulate the disposal of lead-acid batteries and promote their recycling in an environmentally safe manner.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Programme for the Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE): <\/strong>It was launched to provide healthcare services to the elderly population, who are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Center for Advanced Research on Environmental Health (CAREH):<\/strong> It was established by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct research on environmental health issues, including lead poisoning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Awareness campaigns:<\/strong> The government can launch awareness campaigns to educate people about the dangers of lead poisoning and the sources of lead exposure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Occupational health and safety regulations:<\/strong> The government should implement and enforce occupational health and safety regulations to protect workers in industries that involve lead exposure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Periodic soil testing <\/strong>\u00a0in areas with high lead exposure is required to identify and mitigate contaminated areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sources:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/pollution\/toxic-truth-why-research-on-lead-pollution-in-india-needs-to-be-strengthened\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DTE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UNICEF report projected that nearly 275 million children out of the 800 million affected by lead pollution reside in India, i.e. 50 percent of India\u2019s child population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34513,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34512\/revisions\/34513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}