A Group, Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL), in partnership with the Lagos State Government, has concluded a three-day stakeholders’ workshop aimed at developing a comprehensive strategy to tackle lead poisoning and reduce public exposure to toxic substances across the state.

Executive Director of RTSL, Dr Nanlop Ogbureke, who spoke during the event, said the initiative forms part of efforts to support Lagos State in creating an implementation roadmap that would eliminate lead from cosmetics and other consumer products.

According to her, lead poisoning remains a major public health challenge because of its severe impact on children, women of childbearing age and adults.

“We are working together in supporting Lagos State to develop an implementation plan for a roadmap that will enable the state to remove or eliminate lead from different sources. We are starting with lead in cosmetics and later extending to other consumer products,” she said.

Ogbureke explained that lead exposure had become widespread due to mining activities, industrial pollution, contaminated soil and water, unsafe waste disposal practices and the use of certain consumer products.

She, therefore, warned that even low levels of exposure could result in lifelong health complications, particularly among children, where lead contamination can impair brain development, reduce learning ability and affect future productivity.