Pure Earth

Pure Earth (Blacksmith Institute Inc.) is a global public health organization whose mission is simple: solve pollution, save lives, protect the planet. Pure Earth partners with governments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to prevent exposure to toxic pollutants, advancing public health and economic growth. Lead exposure is one of the most dangerous environmental health threats to children worldwide, responsible for an estimated 3.5 million deaths each year, with more than one billion children believed to have elevated blood lead levels damaging brain development, limiting learning and costing the global economy an estimated $6 trillion annually.

Youtube Video

Pure Earth's proven model starts with measuring the true burden of lead poisoning through national blood lead surveys, then identifies the most harmful sources of exposure, implements targeted action, and embeds solutions within government systems to ensure lasting impact.

Headquarters: New York, USA

Major Areas of Work

• Global Lead Program: Identifying, reducing, and preventing lead exposure at scale through health surveillance, exposure source analysis, and source-specific interventions.

• Global Mercury Program: Addressing mercury poisoning through mined-without-mercury training, restoration of degraded mining sites, tailings management, and jewelry industry engagement.

• Toxic Site Identification Program (TSIP): Identifying and cataloguing toxic pollution sites across low- and middle-income countries.

• Women's Environmental Health: Focused programming addressing the specific health impacts of pollution on women and mothers.

Major Initiatives & Programmes

• Pure Earth SCALE Initiative: An ambitious project aiming to protect over 500 million children from lead poisoning by 2033.

• National Blood Lead Level Surveys: Since 2020, Pure Earth has collaborated with eight countries to implement large-scale blood lead surveys.

• Rapid Market Screening Program: Analysis of consumer products for lead contamination, having assessed 6,000+ product samples across 25 countries.

• Strengthening Health Systems to Reduce Lead Exposure Project: A major initiative building durable, government-embedded systems for lead exposure prevention.

• India Programme: Includes work on the alarming rise of lead in everyday metal food ware, and shifting perceptions in Bihar around detecting adulterated turmeric samples.

• Lumetallix Instant Lead Detection Kit: A practical tool developed and made available for rapid lead detection.

Impact

Pure Earth has completed nearly 340 projects across 51 countries, working out of 9 regional offices with a global team of more than 100 professionals. The organisation has identified nearly 5,000 toxic sites across 50+ countries, analyzed 6,000+ consumer product samples for lead contamination in 25 countries, and assessed lead exposure sources in 1,080+ homes of lead-poisoned children across 7 countries. Pure Earth's Global Lead Program continues to expand its footprint, including active country offices in Bangladesh, Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines.

Pure Earth is an excellent fit for professionals passionate about global public health, environmental toxicology, government policy, and pollution prevention who want to help protect children and communities from one of the world's most underrecognized health threats.