Gov’t To Release Results of a Large Study on Lead
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Friday, April 5
The Georgian Health Ministry claims that they will release the results of the first large-scale study on lead in children on April 20, responding to the most recent alarming research of a volunteering group detecting lead in food, toys, and other every-day items.
Head of the National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze vowed that a long-lasting plan will be created to combat the problem.
He said that within the research conducted last year 1,578 children, selected randomly, were tested for lead.
“The results of the research will be available on April 20. However, as we already have preliminary results, environmentalists and doctors have been sent to the families for additional checks where the tests confirmed higher levels of lead in children,” Gamkrelidze said.
He stated that additional checks are tasked to identify the source of lead pollution.
Gamkrelidze stated in the coming months a programme will be present about the ways of treatment for the children suffering from high levels of lead.
“In the course of two months we will also write a long-lasting plan to eliminate the problem,” Gamkrelidze said.
The group had taken samples from 268 everyday items from 17 families living in Tbilisi.
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 cause brain and kidney issues.
The problem was pushed forward by foreign diplomats living in Georgia in 2017, who stated that they suffered high levels of lead in their blood after moving to Georgia.
The Ministry of Environment of Georgia says that there is no lead in the air.
