Mitigating Lead Exposure in India: Addressing Lead in Spices and Cookware

The Mitigating Lead Exposure in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) project seeks to reduce lead exposure in Asia, Africa, and Latin America from exposure sources such as metal and ceramic cookware, adulterated spices, environmentally unsound used lead-acid battery (ULAB) recycling, and cosmetics. The overarching objective is to assist governments and stakeholders in strengthening institutional capacities, programs, and policies to effectively assess, prioritize, and mitigate lead exposure. Project countries include Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Peru, and the Philippines.

In India, the program aims to reduce lead exposure from lead-contaminated cookware and spices. 

Reducing Lead in Spices in Northern India

According to IHME estimates, the following states in Northern India have the following average blood lead levels: Bihar is the Indian State with the highest average blood lead level (10.42 µg/dL), followed by Uttar Pradesh (8.67 µg/dL), and Jharkhand (8.15 µg/dL). 

Pure Earth and Stanford University have been conducting supply chain analyses and spice adulteration testing since 2020, revealing high concentrations of lead in spices throughout Northern India, including commercial hubs in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh. In May 2023, Pure Earth carried out a Rapid Market Screening project in three cities of Uttar Pradesh, showing that 70% of spice samples had elevated levels of lead. Compelling evidence suggests that lead chromate is introduced to turmeric roots by wholesale traders at central markets, and subsequently distributed. 

Project Objectives:

• Reduce spice adulteration in Northern India   
• Assist governments in setting safety standards for spices, assess and monitor supply chains, and build monitoring and enforcement capacities to reduce spice adulteration

Project Activities:

• Establish intergovernmental panels in each state
• Conduct research on the regulatory landscape and a spice supply chain analysis
• Create trainings for authorities, inspectors, producers, and sellers, plus consumer education and national and state-level advocacy

Addressing Lead-Contaminated Cookware in Tamil Nadu

As a result of this project, the state government and key stakeholders will have the information needed to launch an initiative to reduce lead levels in cookware, which could include a research program, monitoring, or policy development.

Pure Earth began working in Tamil Nadu in 2018, to pilot the state’s first cleanup of a lead-contaminated site— a community located next to a licensed, sub-standard, polluting ULAB operation. In 2023, Pure Earth India and local partners assessed 30 lead-contaminated hotspots and selected two cities to conduct home-based assessments. Of the 120 children surveyed, 85% had BLLs above 5 µg/dl. Unlike Bihar, the soil and spice lead levels were not measuring high. However, 57% of cookware and 47% of lead dust samples had high lead levels.

Project Objectives:

• Reduce lead exposure from metal cookware in India by assessing how, when, where, and why lead enters cookware
• Work with regulators and producers to develop lead-free solutions

Project Activities:

• Share findings from the recent lead-contaminated cookware study with key stakeholders in Tamil Nadu
• Analyze the supply chain and share study results with partners at the state level
• Share results from blood lead surveillance and home assessments with stakeholders statewide