Lead poisoning is estimated to account for about 1% of the global disease burden.1

This is a large burden for a problem that gets very little attention.

On an individual level, being exposed to lead in the environment can hinder a child’s brain development: it can result in a reduction in IQ; cognitive function; and has been linked to higher levels of antisocial behavior.2

But it’s a global problem that we can tackle. Many countries have already made significant progress against it.

On this page you can find all our data, visualizations and writing relating to lead pollution.

Interactive charts on Lead Pollution

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Lucia Coulter and Clare Donaldson, at the Lead Exposure Elimination Project, for their insights and support of this project. Thanks also to Max Roser for feedback and suggestions on this work.