India’s legal framework on lead poisoning is operating in “silos” and needs greater cohesion, finds a new study by Pahle India Foundation, while recommending that a separate set of rules under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 should be notified to mitigate lead poisoning, a significant public health concern in India, especially among children.
According to a 2020 report by UNICEF and Pure Earth, half of India’s children are reported to have elevated blood lead levels. The report indicates that as many as 275 million children surpass the WHO threshold for intervention set at 5 μg/dL for blood lead levels, with 64.3 million of them exceeding 10 μg/dL. This was corroborated by a CSIR-NEERI report in 2022.
The first-of-its-kind study titled, ‘Lead Poisoning: A Review of the Indian Legal Framework and International Frameworks’ consolidates Indian laws, rules, regulations and directives concerning lead. In India, the use of leaded petrol was banned in 2000. This was the first big measure by the Centre in the direction of mitigating lead toxicity. Besides, several other regulations contribute to addressing this issue directly or indirectly including the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2007, the Environment Protection Act, 1986, the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Child Labour Act, 1986, the Insecticides Act, 1968, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016 etc.
However, efforts as part of these primary and subordinate legislations had limited impact, the study claims. It states, “The existing legal framework does not comprehensively cover all aspects of lead contamination and its mitigation. The fact that there is no established safe Blood Lead Level (BLL) highlights the urgency to have a dedicated set of rules and increased accountability among industries and stakeholders.”
Among the recommendations to curb lead poisoning is to remove lead arsenate from the category of insecticides to prevent lead entering the food chain through agriculture. The study also recommends formalization of the informal recyclers through the provisions of incentives in the batteries waste management rules. Besides this, the study urges the FSSAI to ensure a safe supply of food materials by bringing products manufactured in the informal sector under its mandate.
The study draws from the international frameworks and insights of countries like Japan, the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States, Australia, and the European Union. “These countries were selected because they either have successfully achieved low levels of lead poisoning in their populations or have implemented distinctive laws that set them apart.”
