Children are bearing the heaviest brunt of lead poisoning, and now the country is staring at a lost future for millions of minors exposed to the neurotoxic substance, especially in seven counties in Kenya.

Stakeholders led by the University of Nairobi’s chemistry department now fear that children being born and raised in these counties may not achieve their cognitive potential as it emerges that 600,000 of them are affected intellectually every year.

The counties which host the largest lead poisoning hotspots include; ; Uasin- Gishu, Naivasha in Nakuru County, Gikomba and Dandora dumpsite in Nairobi; Kisumu, Nyahururu in Nyandarua, Kajiado, and Changamwe in Mombasa.

“We have identified a total of 132 lead toxic sites located in 8 regions, namely Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area, North-Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, and Western Kenya,” said Public Health and Professional Standards PS Mary Muthoni as the 12th international lead poisoning prevention week of action came to an end last Friday.

A number of organisations joined a walk through the streets of the capital to raise awareness on the dangers of lead poisoning, kicking off at the UoN. “We have identified seven counties that have recorded slightly high levels of lead in the soil,” the PS said, however, expressed optimism the renewed campaign through various interventions, will soon change the tide of lead poisoning.

Awareness walk

The awareness walk saw over 700 students and staff of the university, the Ministry and partner organizations walk 10km.

Speaking on behalf of UoN Vice Chancellor, Prof Margaret Jesang’ Hutchinson, the University’s Chief Operations Officer, Brian Ouma underscored the role of academia and especially research in evidence-based solutions to inform policymakers within the country.

USAID’s Director for Health, Population, and Nutrition, Mr Bradley Cronk, highlighted that 1 in every 2 children are at risk of being exposed globally and experiencing long-term effects of lead exposure, including low birth weight, low IQ, irreversible developmental challenges and the hazard to pregnant mothers.

“Let’s take a collective responsibility to ensure that everyone in the community is aware of this danger to our lives,” he said.

Prof Sheila Okoth from the Faculty of Science and Technology at the university urged scientists to keep on disseminating their research output to the policymakers and the community in order to inform solutions.

Symptoms of exposure

Prof Farida Were, Department of Chemistry and the Lead Awareness Champion in Kenya announced that children in the country show symptoms of lead exposure. She highlighted how Lead gets into the bloodstream of those working in industries or living around industrial areas.

A 2020 report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) clearly concluded that children around the world are being poisoned by lead on a massive and previously unrecognized scale.

“Most of these children impacted by lead live in Africa and Asia, but many are also affected in Central and South America and Eastern Europe,” indicates the report, The Toxic Truth: Children’s Exposure to Lead Pollution Undermines a Generation of Future Potential.

Sharing his perspectives on the report, Luigi D’ Aquino, UNICEF Chief Health said that the impact of lead on adults is so large that over 900,000 premature deaths per year are attributed to lead exposure. 

“While blood lead levels have declined dramatically in high-income countries since the phase-out of leaded gasoline and in some places lead-based paint, blood lead levels for children and adults in low- and middle-income countries and in pockets in high-income countries continue to be dangerously high,” he said calling on enhanced efforts to ‘put lead to bed’.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is no known safe level of lead exposure.

“Relatively low levels of lead exposure that were previously considered ‘safe’ have been shown to damage children’s health and impair their cognitive development,” says a WHO statement.

Lead is a potent neurotoxin that, with even low-level exposure, is associated with a reduction in IQ scores, shortened attention spans and potentially violent and even criminal behaviour later in life.

Children under the age of 5 years are at the greatest risk of suffering lifelong neurological, cognitive and physical damage and even death from lead poisoning.

The global health body indicates that older children and adults, as well, suffer severe consequences from prolonged exposure to lead in food, water and the air they breathe, including increased risk of cardiovascular death and kidney damage in later life.

“Their growing bodies absorb more lead, and the damage to their developing brains is often irreversible,” WHO shows.

It emerged that lead exposure can stem from peeling paint in old public buildings, old homes and old schools, lead in soil, lead in old lead water pipes, lead in toys, cosmetic and other consumer products.