Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Abdul Awal Mintoo said today that the National Strategy and Multi-Year Action Plan for a Lead-Free Bangladesh 2026–2035 must become funded work plans, capable institutions, and measurable outcomes.
Speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled "Advancing to a Lead-Free Bangladesh: Scaling Solutions, Driving Youth Action," organised to observe the 14th International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week under the global theme "From Detection to Prevention," Mintoo said the event brought together invited guests to discuss achieving a lead-free future through sustained investments and multi-sectoral cooperation, according to a press release.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Department of Environment (DoE) jointly organised the seminar in collaboration with Pure Earth Bangladesh.
"This requires sustained investment in testing facilities and laboratories, environmental monitoring, site remediation, safer industrial practices and public health responses," Mintoo said. "We also need financial and technical support from development partners and international institutions, as well as commitment from the private sector, in line with the national strategy. Specialist expertise, technology transfer, training and research collaboration, including the existing collaboration with Pure Earth, are also important. Such support should strengthen national institutions and help establish systems that can be sustained over the long term."
The national strategy, approved by the cabinet on 17 August, sets targeted benchmarks to reduce the proportion of children with elevated blood lead levels by 50% by 2030 and 95% by 2035.
Mitali Das, country director of Pure Earth Bangladesh, said the organisation is working closely with the environment ministry, the DoE and key stakeholders to advance an Extended Producer Responsibility directive for lead-acid batteries to improve 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. The wider economic burden is even more alarming. Global research estimates that lead exposure cost Bangladesh approximately $28.6 billion in health-related economic losses in 2019 – equivalent to 6–9% of GDP," Das said.
Additional Director General of the Department of Environment Mohammed Solaiman Haider said the department is formulating standard operating procedures and technical documents for the lead-acid battery industry to guide inspection, monitoring, pollution control and environmental compliance. He also said the DoE recently formed a technical working group to set permissible limits for lead in soil.
Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research Dr Quazi Ahmed Zaki urged stronger public health mechanisms to investigate and address lead exposure, warning that physiological damage often occurs before clinical symptoms appear.
Delivering the keynote presentation, Pure Earth Bangladesh Senior Programme Manager Aftab Uz Zaman Khan detailed the organisation's interventions supporting the national roadmap and presented findings from a lead-remediation project at SSR School in Labanchora, Khulna. He reported that preliminary endline testing in September 2026 showed a 17.5% reduction in median blood lead levels among 111 participants tested before and after the intervention, falling from 5.32 micrograms per decilitre at baseline in 2025 to 4.39 micrograms per decilitre.
The event also spotlighted youth-driven interventions against lead contamination. 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 his poster titled "Surjo Garage: Turning Dhaka's Dead E-rickshaw Batteries into a Lead-Free Switch."
Guests presented awards to the contest winners and the "Art for a Lead-Free Tomorrow" competition winners. The gathering also marked the formal inauguration of the National Youth Alliance for a Lead-Free Bangladesh, a dedicated platform to mobilise youth in prevention, advocacy and awareness campaigns.
During the session, Pure Earth Bangladesh handed over two portable X-ray fluorescence analysers to the DoE. The handheld devices allow rapid testing of lead and heavy metal concentrations on solid surfaces, strengthening the department's monitoring and enforcement capabilities.
Additional Secretary of the Environment Ministry Mohammad Navid Safiullah presided over the seminar. In his closing remarks, Safiullah affirmed that the government's collaboration with Pure Earth offers a robust foundation for technical partnerships in pollution mitigation.
"The research, technical initiatives and youth participation presented today should feed into the wider implementation process. Their value will grow when lessons are shared with the institutions responsible for acting on them," Safiullah said.
More than 100 representatives from government agencies, UN organisations, development partners, academia, civil society, the private sector, youth forums, and media outlets took part in the seminar.