For nearly a century, we have known about the dangerous threat of lead. Yet a study by the World Health Organization estimated that even in 2017, lead exposure still caused 1.06 million deaths. If the science has been clear for so long, why is lead still killing us?

Scientists know how lead enters and affects our bodies. Exposure to lead occurs through contaminated water, air, dust, or food. Our bodies absorb lead when we swallow dust or tainted food, or inhale small lead particles. Lead then enters our blood stream where it travels to various organs, posing the most risk to the brain.

We also know that lead hits children hardest because they play in contaminated dust or dirt, and pretty much everything goes in their mouths. Even worse, children absorb more lead relative to their size than adults.

The problem is that people still think that there is an “acceptable level of lead” we can have in our bodies. But at the ‘acceptable’ level in the US, children still show symptoms of lead poisoning. Even when the CDC emphasizes that there is no safe blood lead level for children, the US continues to use more lead every year in batteries and vehicles. While the US government and international institutions have taken some action to reduce lead, much of the burden of reducing exposure is still placed on communities and families.

Lead contamination is not an issue any individual can fix. It requires government programs to clean existing sites, and regulate corporations to clean up their act. But what happens when this doesn’t happen equitably? Government programs, like the EPA’s Superfund program, disproportionately clean up toxic sites in white, wealthier areas, while the cleanup process in Black and Indigenous communities is significantly slower and less well funded. Three out of five Black Americans still live in communities with uncontrolled toxic waste. This results in the disproportionate impact of lead pollution in Black and Indigenous communities; 11.2% of Black children suffer lead poisoning, compared to 2.3% of white children.

For my beat, I will track down the unseen, toxic legacies of lead, such as mine waste, lead in soils, and even lead in the dust of your home. I will investigate questions like: how does lead poisoning intersect with issues like climate change? How can lead get into my home? And why is there no national or international plan to end lead exposure for good?