The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is advocating a Lead Prevention and Reduction Policy for the country to reduce the use of lead in order to safeguard the environment.
The Executive Director of the EPA, Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, made the call at a press conference held in Accra on Friday, to address concerns over lead pollution and its public health implications in the country.
“The agency further recommends that a high-level multi-sector ministerial committee comprising the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development among others may be established with the support of Pure Earth and UNICEF to develop a lead prevention and reduction policy for Ghana,” he said.
He stated that a joint survey conducted by the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Pure Earth Ghana and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) found that 1,725 out of 3,227 children surveyed, that is, 53.5 per cent, had Blood Lead Levels (BLL) at 5 micrograms per decilitre (ug/dL) or higher.
However, he stated that 5 micrograms per decilitre was the level to which the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends public health action to reduce or eliminate exposure.
“Lead is a toxic heavy metal that can cause irreversible harm to children’s development, primarily their intellectual potential and behaviour. There is no known safe blood lead concentration and even concentrations as low as 3.5 micrograms per decilitre (Mg/dL) may be associated with decreased intelligence, behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities in children,” Dr Kokofu noted.
He asserted that the survey was conducted across the three ecological zones of Ghana to compare BLL in children aged one to four years living near hotspots of lead contamination with those living in areas devoid of such hotspots.
“There was widespread lead exposure and poisoning among children in the study areas in the Greater Accra and Northern regions, where BLL appears to be driven by both industrial sources as well as certain consumer products,” he said.
He noted that the home-based assessment revealed that soil, Chilo (a traditional eyeliner) and locally-fabricated metal cookware were important sources of lead exposure.
He said the research showed that 93 per cent of mothers in the Northern Region applied Chilo, which exceeded the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) threshold for lead in cosmetics for the children.
Also, Dr Kokofu said EPA, GSA, GHS, Food and Drugs Authority, Pure Earth and other stakeholders would develop the requisite standards to check lead concentration in the locally-fabricated aluminum cookware, locally known as “Dadesen”, which could leach into food during cooking, adding that recycling of lead acid batteries exposed humans to lead.
He explained that there were some actions taken by EPA such as the Development Technical Guidelines in 2021 to guide and facilitate the sound management of used lead acid battery (ULAB), including undertaking compliance monitoring and enforcement in the major recycling facilities to help eliminate lead pollution in the country.
The Programme Manager of Occupational and Environmental Health Unit of GHS, Dr Carl Osei, urged EPA to as a matter of urgency take all the necessary steps to review the permitting conditions for formal ULABs recycling industries and put an end to the activities of informal ones.
The Blacksmith Initiative Country Director of Pure Earth, Mr Esmond Wisdom Quansah, appealed that governments and their development partners should explore and invest in ways to generate primary data on children’s blood lead levels and address related problems
BY CECILIA LAGBA YADA
