Partnership for Environmental Health
Tackling Toxic Legacies
The Partnership for Environmental Health (PEH) is a collaborative initiative led by TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO), the Environmental Health and Pollution Management Institute (EHPMI), and government partners. Together, we are working to improve health outcomes for communities living in and around sites contaminated by heavy metals, including lead, mercury, and arsenic, due to past industrial activities.
Focus Areas
PEH is initially focusing on two high-risk cities:
Both cities have extensive legacy contamination from decades of unregulated industrial operations. Thousands of people, especially children, live at high risk of chronic heavy metal exposure.
PEH is also considering future expansion in Ridder, East Kazakhstan, another area with known environmental health concerns.
Kutaisi, Georgia
Located on the banks of the Rioni River, the city of Kutaisi (population of 147,635) is home to the former Litafoni Factory. This factory produced industrial pigments, dyes, and chemicals from 1939 until its closure in 1990. Industrial waste was dumped directly along the riverbanks, where it has leached into soil, surface water, and potentially groundwater, especially during floods. The site sits dangerously close to residential neighborhoods.
Shymkent, Kazakhstan
With over 1.1 million residents, Shymkent is Kazakhstan’s third-largest city and was once the industrial heart of the Soviet Union’s lead and zinc production. From the 1930s to 2018, its massive smelting complex processed ore from across the country, producing 70% of the Soviet Union’s lead at its peak.
Over 80 years of smelting has left behind widespread lead dust contamination across vast areas, including homes, schools, and public spaces
Project Goals
How We're Doing It
Explore Contamination Levels Across Shymkent
This interactive map shows soil contamination levels from some of the sampling we conducted in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, during the spring of 2025. Many of these locations are playgrounds in residential areas actively used by children daily. Each colored point represents a sample location, with lead, arsenic, and mercury levels ranging from moderate to dangerously high. Click on an individual point to view details—including contamination data, sample dates, and site photos—and see firsthand the environmental health challenges facing families in these neighborhoods.
For reference, in the U.S., the maximum permissible range for lead levels in play areas is 100-200 parts per million (ppm), depending on whether there are multiple sources of exposure present.
Early Progress and Long-Term Impact
EHPMI has already conducted preliminary environmental screening in both Kutaisi and Shymkent. PEH partners have built on this foundation, launching a coordinated environmental and health assessment. This will provide the groundwork for communities, governments, and donors to take meaningful steps toward restoring safe, healthy environments.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
1Stronger government engagement and leadership in addressing legacy contamination.
2Increased community and stakeholder awareness of health risks and solutions.
3Enhanced capacity of local and national partners to assess contamination and lead response efforts.
4Reduced exposures to heavy metals.
A Vision for Clean, Healthy Communities
The Partnership for Environmental Health is not just a research project. It’s a collaboration for mobilizing long-overdue action to protect public health and restore environments harmed by decades of pollution. By working hand-in-hand with governments, researchers, and communities, we are building a pathway toward sustainable cleanup and health equity in some of the world’s most impacted industrial cities.
Partners
This project is funded in part by the Sigrid Rausing Trust. The Sigrid Rausing Trust supports the values and principles of human rights and the rule of law; promotes cohesive, creative, and open societies; and supports the preservation of nature and the regulation of harmful chemicals.