Tag Archive for: Lead

Justin Nijenhuis
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Testing children for lead poisoning would be ‘game-changer’

Samantha Power says testing children for lead poisoning could help reveal the true scale of the problem. Without routine screening, many cases remain hidden, which makes it harder to understand how serious the issue really is. She argues that better data is needed before effective action can be taken. In many places, lead exposure is still underreported because children are not tested often enough.

“It’s hard to change what you can’t measure.”

Why it matters

  • Children are especially vulnerable to lead exposure.
  • Lead can cause behavioural problems, delayed growth and hearing loss.
  • Better data is needed to make the issue visible and drive action.

Current situation

The US routinely tests young children for blood lead levels, while the UK does not have a nationwide screening system. As a result, many cases may still go unnoticed, even when the risk is present in homes and local environments.

What Power says

Power says exposure can often be reduced by tackling sources such as paint, dust and contaminated soil. She says improving awareness is an important first step toward reducing the problem.

Read the full article on ft.com

Samantha Power speaks about testing children for lead poisoning.

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Researchers Redirect Solar Cell Technology to Develop a Simple Lead Spraying Test

AMOLF researchers, led by Lukas Helmbrecht, developed a perovskite-based Lead test 1,000 times more sensitive than existing methods. Luminescent green light reveals Lead on various surfaces. The innovation led to Lumetallix, providing affordable kits for global health impact.

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Lood zichtbaar te maken met perovskiet

Household items-nieuw

Amolf-onderzoekers hebben de bijzondere eigenschappen van perovskiet-halfgeleiders gebruikt om een eenvoudige spuittest te ontwikkelen om de aanwezigheid van lood aan te tonen. Een loodhoudend oppervlak glanst heldergroen als het met de test wordt besproeid.

Looddetectie met Perovskiet Halfgeleiders

De test is 1000 keer gevoeliger dan bestaande tests en de onderzoekers vonden geen vals-positieve of vals-negatieve resultaten. De studie werd gepubliceerd in het wetenschappelijke tijdschrift Environmental Science and Technology.

We hebben de technologie van perovskiethalfgeleiders gekaapt

Innovatieve lood detectie met perovskiet

Een toepassing die de hele wereld beïnvloedt

“We hebben de technologie van perovskiethalfgeleiders gekaapt en gebruikt in een breed inzetbare leadtest. Niemand in dit vakgebied had daar ooit aan gedacht”, zegt Lukas Helmbrecht, onderzoeker bij de groep Self-Organizing Matter die wordt geleid door Wim Noorduin bij Amolf. “Wij zijn erg blij met deze resultaten”, zegt Noorduin. “Het is een heel gaaf project en het komt zelden voor dat fundamenteel onderzoek met een toepassing letterlijk de hele wereld beïnvloedt.”

Read the full article on engineersonline.nl

Lood detectie perovskiet

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Een onthullende spray laat elke loodverontreiniging felgroen oplichten

Toxicologie Een simpele spraytest toont gevoelig en onmiddellijk aan of een voorwerp vervuild is met lood. De vinding is een bijvangst uit het onderzoek naar loodvrije leds en zonnepanelen. „Wij hebben de gedachte omgedraaid.

‘We hebben de spray op allerlei gebruiksvoorwerpen uitgeprobeerd, het was voor ons verrassend in hoeveel alledaagse dingen lood zit”, zegt chemicus Lukas Helmbrecht.

Ook een theepot van mijn huisgenoot lichtte fel groen op. Die wordt dus niet meer gebruikt. Best jammer, het was een geliefde theepot.

Innovatieve Toepassing van de Looddetectiespray

De spray waardoor de theepot is verbannen detecteert lood. Helmbrecht ontwikkelde de spray samen met zijn collega Wim Noorduin van natuurkundig onderzoeksinstituut Amolf in Amsterdam. Ook de mooie wijnglazen die de ouders van Noorduin jarenlang bewaarden zullen nooit meer gebruikt worden, concludeerde hij na gebruik van de spray. De looddetectiespray bestaat uit een oplossing met methylammoniumbromide, dat reageert meteen als het in contact komt met een loodverbinding. Bij die reactie wordt een loodperovskiet gevormd, een specifieke kristalstructuur, dat groen oplicht wanneer het met uv-licht wordt beschenen.

Het is een nieuwe en verrassende toepassing van perovskiet, dat vooral onderzocht wordt als halfgeleidermateriaal voor zonnecellen en leds. Vorige week publiceerden Noorduin en Helmbrecht met enkele andere Amolfpromovendi over hun vinding in het tijdschrift Environmental Science and Technology.

Kinderen met loodvergiftiging

Het opsporen van loodverontreiniging is nuttig, want blootstelling aan lood komt veel voor en kan ernstige gevolgen hebben voor de gezondheid. In 2020 bleek uit onderzoek van Unicef en milieustichting Pure Earth dat 800 miljoen kinderen wereldwijd een loodvergiftiging hebben. Het loodgehalte in hun bloed is meer dan 5 microgram per deciliter, een grens waarboven volgens de wereldgezondheidsorganisatie actie moet worden ondernomen.

Read the full article on nrc.nl
onthullende spray test loodvervuiling

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Spray-on detector makes Lead light up green

The reagent reacts with lead, forming a perovskite that fluoresces green under UV light

Chemical reacts with Lead instantly to form fluorescent perovskite

Lead contamination and exposure can cause “ profound and permanent ” impacts, including brain damage in children, and increased risk of kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, and miscarriage, according to the World Health Organization. While known contamination is relatively easy to mitigate, the detection itself can be a tricky proposition. Standard methods can only detect Lead if it’s isolated and concentrated first.

Everyday items, with a result in seconds.

Now, researchers at Amolf, a research institute dedicated to studying the physics of matter, have developed a spray-on reagent that signals the presence of even tiny amounts of Lead by lighting up fluorescent green under a UV light within seconds. Comprised of methyl ammonium bromide in isopropanol, it reacts with Lead to form a photoluminescent Lead bromide perovskite (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2023, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c06058).

“We can even spot nanograms of Lead in laboratory conditions”

Gabriel Filippelli, a biogeochemist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, who wasn’t involved in study but did test a beta version of the spray, says that it is both sensitive, quick, and accurate, detecting Lead in a way that is obvious to the eye. According to the researchers, the reagent does not react with similar metals like tin or copper, and it can detect Lead on glass, plastic, concrete, soil, metal, paint, and more. “We can [even] spot nanograms of Lead in laboratory conditions,” says Wim Noorduin, the Lead author of the study. The color emitted by the perovskite depends on the halide; bromide causes it to appear green.

The versatile Lead Detection with surprising Origins

“What’s special about our [test] is that we . . . just do it in the environment,” Noorduin says. In fact, the researchers were surprised by the versatility and robustness of the reaction, which detects Lead in different oxidation states and with different counter ions. The researchers spent two years developing the reagent, but for a different use—to make perovskites from the calcium carbonate in the shell of creatures like sea urchins. They discovered its potential as a Lead detector by accident, when Noorduin took it home and happened to spray it on his neighbors’ roof.

Read the full article on cen.acs.org
direct lead detection spray

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Lead Is Still In Your Home | And it’s Dangerous | This Entrepreneur Has a Solution

Dr. Lukas Helmbrecht & Prof. Wim Noorduin

What does lead paint do to your brain? 🧠
An entrepreneur who really makes an impact with his solution!
Lead is still in your home and it’s dangerous, and this video shows why.

𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆:Lead Is Still in Your Home and It’s Dangerous

In this 7DTV interview, entrepreneur and changemaker Lukas Helmbrecht takes us into the little-known but massive global health issue: lead contamination in everyday products. From toys and ceramics to cosmetics and household paint, lead is still widely present—especially in developing countries. What started as a university project evolved into a startup on a mission to eliminate toxic exposure worldwide. Lukas shares how his team at Unknown University of Applied Science tackled the problem with an affordable, consumer-friendly solution.

Lukas: “We realized this wasn’t just about old paint – lead is everywhere, and it’s silently damaging lives.”

Throughout the conversation, Lukas highlights the challenges of creating real impact: dealing with outdated regulations, cultural perceptions, and the logistics of testing in low-income areas. He’s not just building a business, but pushing a movement for awareness and change.
Lukas: “You can’t solve a problem people don’t even know exists. Education is as critical as innovation.”
You can read more about the health risks of lead exposure on the CDC lead information page.
Lead Is Still in Your Home: Why It’s Dangerous

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Spray Makes Lead Glow Green in the Environment

The reagent reacts with lead, forming a perovskite that fluoresces green under UV light

The lead exposure threat is especially serious for children. Lead is pervasive in materials such as water pipes, paints, glass, electronic components, and ammunition.

Due to activities like mining, coal power plants, or recycling, this heavy metal ends up directly in the environment. It poses a particular threat to small children and can cause lifelong consequences, including neurological disorders, learning difficulties and severe physical illnesses. Fortunately, people can remove this toxin from the environment relatively easily once they know it is present. The challenge lies in detecting its presence, because the process typically requires complex laboratory techniques to separate and enrich the element from samples.

Understanding the Lead Exposure Threat

Detecting dangerous levels of lead in the environment may become significantly easier in the future. A research group led by Willem L. Noorduin has developed a method in which a sample is sprayed with a chemical and then examined with a UV lamp. Using this lamp, researchers can immediately determine if lead is present. As reported in the journal “Environmental Science & Technology,” the method correctly identified the presence of lead in experiments with over 50 samples. It also worked at very low concentrations and with all types of lead compounds. The spray contains methylammonium bromide, a substance that forms a semiconducting mineral with lead. This mineral emits a green glow under UV light.

The discovery revolves around perovskites, a class of materials with versatile properties that many groups and companies are currently studying intensively. Solar cells based on lead-containing semiconducting perovskites achieve over 25 percent efficiency. Noorduin and his team originally developed methylammonium bromide for perovskite production, and the ability to detect lead in the environment emerged as a fortunate discovery for the research group. The chemical reaction that forms the perovskite when the spray contacts lead, even in the presence of water or acid that would typically break down perovskites, remains somewhat mysterious.
Lead exposure threat visualized with green fluorescent perovskite under UV light