About The LEAD Group
The LEAD Group exists because the
problem of lead poisoning affects millions of people throughout the world, often causing
severe health problems.
The Lead Education and Abatement
Design Group (LEAD) is a not-for-profit community organisation which develops and provides
information and referrals on lead poisoning and lead contamination prevention and
management. Our goal is to work to eliminate childhood
and foetal lead poisoning by the year 2012 and to protect the
environment from lead in Australia and throughout the world.
We aim to achieve this in three main ways:
- Through information and referrals on our website
including self-help egroups
and Question and Answer;
- Input into government policy on lead abatement and the elimination of
lead in products and processes;
- Advice and advocacy nationally and globally. (The new name of our
advisory service reflects the global nature of the service.)
The LEAD Group is made up of dedicated volunteers, a
Committee, a Technical Advisory Board as well as staff of the Global Lead Advice and Support Service (GLASS). Established in 1991
Sydney, Australia, The LEAD group is a central source of information for the Australian
public. (History)
Since our 1991 inception we have had many achievements
both locally in Australia and internationally. (What we do / Achievements)
Essential to our operation is the work of volunteers in
Sydney. We are always looking for people who can help. (Contact
us, placements)
What We Do:
The LEAD Group has provided the following services,
nationally and internationally:
- Telephone advice for parents and carers of lead poisoned children.
- Awareness raising about the problems of lead in lead mining, smelting,
manufacturing and urban communities, especially inner-city areas.
- Helped foster the development of a ceiling dust removal industry in
Sydney and other major Australian cities and lead affected rural areas, whilst encouraging
the lead abatement industry, especially manufacturers of lead substitute products with
export potential.
- Developed a comprehensive library (possibly the largest public resource
of this kind, in the world) covering all aspects of lead.
- Web-published numerous factsheets, databases of referrals and library
items, and the now defunct (due to lack of sufficient funding) LEAD Action News, a
quarterly newsletter containing all the latest on lead issues.
- Distributed free, independent and authoritative information packs and
individual information products totalling 8,358,386 copies in the last 9 years.
- Organised advisory sessions, information nights
and a self-help egroup Plumbism
and Autism Network (PAN) for groups of parents with
lead-affected children.
- Developed networks of people working on lead issues, in order to maintain
the best referral database on lead in Australia.
- Worked with local councils on environmental policy development especially
through the NSW Council LEAD Project.
Some Achievements:
- Contributed significantly to the successful lobbying for reduced use of
lead in Australian petrol. A 50% reduction in the level of lead petrol was agreed to and
completed by January 1995. By 2000 there had been a 75% reduction in total lead petrol
sold. Leaded petrol was phased-out by January 2002.
- Successfully lobbied the National Health and Medical Research Council
(NHMRC) for a change in the Australian blood lead "standard". The old
"level of concern" of 25 µg/dL (micrograms per decilitre) was replaced in June
1993 with a series of blood lead "action levels" and a national goal of <10
µg/dL.
- Successful lobbying for blood lead testing of 1-4 year-olds in Summer
Hill, in inner western Sydney.
- Lobbied for education programs and certifying for lead paint removalists and ceiling dust removalists.
- Consulted with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
in workshops to design a national strategy on lead abatement ("Reducing Lead Exposure
in Australia", July 1993).
International Work:
- Contributed to an OECD lead monograph and the
development of an OECD Lead Control Act and OECD Ministerial Agreement on lead risk
reduction in 1996 (which Australia is a signatory to). (Review of OECD Declaration)
- Addressed the Newcastle, Washington (1994 and 2002), Bangalore (India)
and Port Pirie international lead conferences and the Alice Springs mining sustainability
international conference.
- At meetings of the Commission on Sustainable Development at the United
Nations in New York in May 1994 and April 1995 successfully lobbied delegates for an
international agreement on the phase-out of lead in petrol and other consumer products.
History:
The LEAD Group was established in 1991, Sydney Australia
by parents of lead poisoned children and individuals who were shocked by the significant
health impact lead poisoning had on their children.
It was apparent government at all levels lacked a
comprehensive strategy to prevent this most common environmental health problem. Lead
poisoning needed a voice.
The LEAD Group was then established as an incorporated
association in 1992 surviving on private membership and subscription fees. Funding was
received in 1992 from Leichhardt Council, and then in 1993 from the NRMA.
In June 1995, in recognition of the valuable work of the
LEAD Group volunteers, the federal government awarded a grant sufficient to employ three
people to run the national LEADLINE Project (Freecall 1800 626 086), now
known as the Global Lead Advice and Support Service (GLASS).
Since that time funding from government has declined
significantly, despite this the LEAD Group continues to advocate for the ongoing problems
lead contamination is causing.
How you can help:
- The LEAD Group has many functions, and as a result we need volunteers -
from anywhere in Australia or the world, requiring an incredibly wide range of skills -
from putting stamps on envelopes to talking at the United Nations.
- If you can't spare the time to help, perhaps you can send in examples of
leaded consumer products, soft copy articles on lead, unused postage stamps, A4 photocopy
paper and envelopes, but check with us first please – the office space is very small.
No elephants!
- Become a member of The LEAD Group and/or make a
donation to the Lead Education and Abatement Fund.
- Write to your environment, consumer/fair trading, industrial relations,
housing, mining or health minister about your concerns about lead and what you would like
the minister to do. Otherwise politicians are inclined to assume that lead poisoning is no
longer a problem. If The LEAD Group has helped you, please add this to your letter as this
strengthens our case when applying for government funding.
This fact sheet created 26th
February 2006 by Daniel Hyslop, Anne Roberts and Elizabeth O’Brien. |
