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LEAD EXPOSURE ELIMINATION PROJECT

STARTED: Incubation Program 2020

SEED GRANT: $60,000

Lucia Coulter
Co-founder & Director

MONEY FUNDRAISED TO DATE (Aug 2023):  $2,953,874

TEAM SIZE: 9

Jack Rafferty
Co-founder & Director

WEBSITE: https://leadelimination.org/

LEEP drives effective policies to eliminate lead poisoning across the globe. Its current focus is on ending the sale and manufacture of lead paint worldwide.

CURRENT OR PREDICTED IMPACT:

  • LEEP’s most in-depth estimates are based on its Malawi program, which they expect to decrease lead poisoning in ~215,000 children and avert 43,000 DALY-equivalents. LEEP has launched 13 further paint programs, which they estimate will have a similar impact on average.

COST-EFFECTIVENESS:

  • LEEP performed a preliminary cost-effectiveness analysis of its paint program in Malawi, which suggested a cost-effectiveness of approximately $14 per DALY-equivalent averted. Analysis of LEEP’s paint programs in their other focus countries is planned for early 2023.

  • Founders Pledge estimated that via LEEP’s work it costs $1.66 to prevent one child’s lead exposure (in expectation).

SIGNIFICANT UPDATES: 

  • LEEP is now running lead paint elimination programs in fourteen countries where they have engaged government authorities to work together towards effective lead paint regulation. 

  • They have completed paint studies, focused on identifying the lead content of paint available on the market, in nine countries.

  • They have begun investigating other sources of lead exposure, with a preliminary study into the lead content of spices currently underway.

ACHIEVEMENTS: 

  • LEEP has received government commitments of regulation implementation in six countries.

  • LEEP has received reports in three countries that paint manufacturing companies representing over 50% of the market share are now reformulating to lead-free paint.

  • LEEP is recommended as a high-impact funding opportunity by Founders Pledge, and is one of two organizations that Rethink Priorities recommended in its 2021 report for those who want to fund direct lead exposure work. 

  • LEEP is a member of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint, an initiative jointly led by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Program, is participating in the Center for Global Development’s Working Group on Understanding and Mitigating the Global Burden of Lead Poisoning, and presented at the G7 Workshop “Lead as a major threat for human health and the environment” in November 2022.

ROOM FOR MORE FUNDING IN 2024:

  • FUNDING GAP TO THE END OF 2024: $766,0000

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