In January, Pure Earth Philippines Country Director Larah Ortega-Ibañez participated in a webinar hosted by the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future, providing practical guidance on how to conduct an environmental lead exposure risk assessment.
The session explored strategies for risk assessments in resource-limited settings, featuring case studies from Nigeria and the Philippines. Speakers included Zeineldin Elmikaty (IFMSA), Larah Ortega-Ibañez (Pure Earth), Casey Bartrem (TerraGraphics International Foundation), and moderator Bret Ericson (UNICEF).
Ortega-Ibañez presented Lead Exposure Risk Assessment: Key Approaches and Considerations from the Pure Earth Philippines Experience, highlighting the organization’s collaborative work with government, academia, and industry to identify and mitigate lead risks. She detailed efforts from mapping toxic sites through the Toxic Site Identification Program, to expanding blood lead testing and home-based exposure assessments. She emphasized the need for a multi-pronged approach—identifying lead exposure sources, tracing exposure pathways, and screening populations at a high risk of lead poisoning, especially children and pregnant women.
Watch her full presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTifhrZgjtk
This webinar is the third installment in the Lead-Free Future for Every Child series. Previous sessions covered key topics, including the first webinar on childhood lead exposure sources and the second on conducting blood lead level surveys.
