A team of engineers and public health experts from the University of South Florida is helping Toamasina, Madagascar, residents reduce their exposure to lead—a major global environmental pollutant that causes more than 1 million premature deaths each year. By combining efforts to replace water pumps and educate city technicians, USF researchers helped decrease the blood lead levels of 87 percent of the children tested during their study.
“They were taking old car batteries and melting them down to make check valves in the pumps,” said James Mihelcic, professor and director of USF’s International Development Engineering Program.
Mihelcic made the discovery when visiting the East African country with students to study Toamasina’s water and sanitation. “We brought back water samples to USF to test them and we learned the locally manufactured pumps had really high levels of lead.”
The lead concentrations of the water from the pumps exceeded the World Health Organization’s recommended limit of lead in drinking water—10 micrograms per liter. In some cases, the water contained more than 10 times the recommended limit.
“The families and children are drinking this water and using it to cook their meals,” said principal author Adaline Buerck, a USF civil and environmental engineering doctoral alumna. “In low- and middle-income countries, there is a lack of regulations and understandings of the harmful effects of lead, as well as other comorbidities, such as improper nutrition, that can increase childhood lead absorption.”
2023-11-16 19:41:04
Article from phys.org rnrn