Pilot project kicks of in Adjara to address child lead exposure
Tweet 
Share
The Adjara government in western Georgia, with the support of UNICEF Georgia, has launched a pilot project to investigate the source of lead exposure in children between two and seven years of age.
The first nationwide survey last year revealed that 41 per cent of Georgian children have elevated blood levels of lead. Many of the children were from the coastal Adjara region.
The pilot project which will be carried out this year by Adjara Health Ministry aims to check blood levels of lead in pregnant women and women who breastfeed their children.
UNICEF plans to support building laboratory capacity in Batumi to test for toxic chemicals in different subjects.
Lead can harm the production of blood cells and bone marrow. It complicates the absorption of calcium needed for strong bones.
Lead damages nerves and causes brain and kidney issues.
The Government of Georgia has established safety standards and technical regulations for toys, which says that the Market Surveillance Agency will be obliged to inspect toys on the Georgian market and issue recommendations.
A group of NGOs and specialists which teamed up in January 2019 have released the results of a study which aimed to determine the source of lead particles in Tbilisi.
The lead level in children’s blood has gone down, the Head of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Amiran Gamkrelidze stated today.
The first nationwide survey has been released, with 1,578 children tested, which reads that 41 per cent of Georgian children have elevated blood levels of lead. The study was conducted between September and December 2018 as part of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), the largest household survey worldwide in which Georgia participated.
UN Environment, World Health Organisation, the US Environment Protection Agency and other partners have teamed up to assist Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan in the establishment and implementation of a regulation on lead paint.
Safety standards and technical regulations for toys established by the Georgian government in January 2020 will enter into force starting today.
Georgian authorities have detected no excessive lead in food sold in the country after inspecting 118 samples of various products, the National Food Agency announced on Thursday.
The National Food Agency of Georgia on Wednesday warned customers who have purchased Chinese-made ceramic plates from the Junior series by Ambition at Domino hypermarket in Tbilisi, after lead was detected in the product following testing.
A children’s nail polish set, a xylophone and eight types of slimes are among 77 toys suspended from sale on the domestic market after an inspection revealed lead, peeling paint and other issues with the items, local media outlet Interpressnews reported on Monday.