Preventing childhood lead poisoning
Childhood lead poisoning is one of the most preventable — yet persistently devastating — public health issues in the world. TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO) brings decades of frontline experience to the challenge of protecting children from toxic lead exposure.
Our founders helped lead the response to one of the worst lead poisoning crises in the United States: the Bunker Hill Superfund Site in Idaho. Their work helped shape national understanding of lead toxicity, soil remediation, and how to design community-driven responses that prioritize children’s health. Today, TIFO carries that legacy forward — both internationally and with U.S. Tribal Nations domestically.
In the places we work, the levels of lead exposure children face often exceed those seen at Bunker Hill. These exposures can cause irreversible brain damage, developmental delays, and lifelong loss of potential.
"In most cases, we know how to do things correctly. It costs a little more money sometimes. It requires more foresight. But it isn't a mystery. It's a commitment." - Margrit von Braun, TIFO Co-Founder
TIFO staff and volunteers serve as trusted technical advisors to local and national governments and to international partners, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). We help shape practical, culturally informed strategies for reducing lead exposure and improving environmental health — especially in low-resource settings where the need is greatest.
We have responded to some of the world’s most tragic and severe lead poisoning outbreaks among children, including:
Current projects related to heavy metal exposures include:
- Kazakhstan - developing a coordinated environmental, public health, and regulatory program to address severe, widespread contamination from lead smelting
- Georgia - addressing severe lead contamination from an abandoned, Soviet-era pigment factory in a public area along the Rioni River
- Duck Valley Indian Reservation - supporting the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe as they face growing pressure from nearby mining proposals, with potential impacts to land, air, and water.
- Kyrgyzstan - where pollution from Soviet-era mining continues to impact human health and poses transboundary risks across Central Asia.
Tools You Can Use
TIFO team members have contributed to the development of practical resources for governments, NGOs, and advocates working to eliminate lead poisoning in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs). Years of experience in both high- and low-resource settings inform the development of these tools. TIFO staff drafted some of these resources under contracts with USAID, but the Agency dissolved before finalizing or publishing them.
These files do not represent the positions of USAID or the US Government, and are not necessarily the final versions.