Environment Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo on Wednesday called for translating Bangladesh’s national strategy for a lead-free country into funded work plans, stronger institutions and measurable results to protect public health and the environment.
“Such support should strengthen national institutions and help establish systems that can be sustained over the long term,” he said at a seminar in Dhaka marking the 14th International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.
He stressed the need for sustained investment in testing facilities, environmental monitoring, contaminated-site remediation, safer industrial practices and public health responses.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Department of Environment (DoE), in collaboration with Pure Earth Bangladesh, organised the seminar titled “Advancing to a Lead-Free Bangladesh: Scaling Solutions, Driving Youth Action”.
Mintoo also called for financial and technical support from development partners and international institutions, alongside private-sector commitment, technology transfer, training and research collaboration.
The Cabinet approved the National Strategy and Multi-Year Action Plan for a Lead-Free Bangladesh 2026-2035 on August 17. It sets targets to reduce the proportion of children with elevated blood lead levels by 50 percent by 2030 and 95 percent by 2035.
Mitali Das, Country Director of Pure Earth Bangladesh, said the organisation was working with the ministry, the DoE and other stakeholders to advance an Extended Producer Responsibility directive for lead-acid batteries.
The directive aims to improve battery collection, traceability and environmentally sound recycling.
“Informal lead recycling is not good business when its profits come at the expense of children’s health, government revenue and the environment,” she said.
Citing global research, Das said lead exposure cost Bangladesh an estimated US$28.6 billion in health-related economic losses in 2019, equivalent to 6-9 percent of the country’s GDP.
Mohammed Solaiman Haider, Additional Director General of the DoE, said the department was developing standard operating procedures and technical documents for the lead-acid battery industry to guide inspections, monitoring, pollution control and environmental compliance.
A technical working group has also been formed under the department to establish permissible lead limits in soil, he said.
Dr Quazi Ahmed Zaki, Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, called for stronger public health procedures to investigate and respond to lead exposure, warning that harm could occur before symptoms became apparent.
In his keynote presentation, Aftab Uz Zaman Khan, Senior Programme Manager at Pure Earth Bangladesh, outlined the organisation’s interventions under the national strategy and presented findings from a lead-remediation initiative at SSR School in Labanchora, Khulna.
Preliminary endline test results from September 2026 showed a 17.5 percent reduction in median blood lead levels among 111 participants tested both before and after the intervention. The median level fell from 5.32 micrograms per decilitre in 2025 to 4.39 micrograms per decilitre.
The seminar also highlighted youth-led initiatives to prevent lead pollution. Sheikh Sajidul Islam of the Islamic University of Technology, a joint winner of the “Local Action for Lead-Free Communities: Youth-Led Solutions” competition, presented a project titled “Surjo Garage: Turning Dhaka’s Dead E-rickshaw Batteries into a Lead-Free Switch”.
Winners of the youth competition and the “Art for a Lead-Free Tomorrow” competition received awards at the event. The National Youth Alliance for a Lead-Free Bangladesh was also launched to mobilise young people for prevention, advocacy and awareness.
Pure Earth Bangladesh handed over two portable X-ray fluorescence analysers to the DoE. The devices can rapidly measure lead and other heavy metals on solid surfaces, supporting environmental monitoring and enforcement.
Mohammad Navid Safiullah, Additional Secretary of the ministry, chaired the seminar. In his closing remarks, he said the government’s partnership with Pure Earth provided a framework for technical cooperation on lead pollution prevention.
More than 100 representatives of government agencies, UN bodies, development partners, academia, civil society, the private sector, youth organisations and the media attended the event.