Lead and Livestock: Estimating India’s Bovine Lead Exposure

We provide an annual bovine lead exposure estimate for India utilizing random forest modeling, PureEarth’s Toxic Sites Identification Program database, and the FAO’s Gridded Livestock dataset. In aggregate, India suffered 3,273 bovine fatalities, $ 21,437,575 of economic damages, and 23.1 km2 of lethally contaminated land across 222 used lead acid battery recycling sites. This implies per-site averages of 14.7 fatalities, $ 96,566 in economic damages, and 0.10 km2 of lethally contaminated land. Without remediation efforts, damages are likely to repeat every year. While this is a conservative estimate, the identified per-site damages indicate an unrecognized severe burden on the rural poor.