The Invisible Threat Taking Away Our Brightest Minds | Drew McCartor | TED

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Lead poisoning robs the world's kids of millions of IQ points a day and kills more people than wars, natural disasters and road accidents combined — yet we treat it as a problem we've already solved. Drew McCartor, who runs the nonprofit Pure Earth, has spent nearly two decades proving it doesn't have to be this way. He presents their three-step fix that's already working in places from Georgia to Ghana, and makes the case that we can finally beat a crisis hiding in plain sight. (This ambitious idea is part of The Audacious Project, TED’s initiative to inspire and fund global change.) (Recorded at TED2026 on April 14, 2026) Join us in person at a TED conference: https://tedtalks.social/events Become a TED Member to support our mission: https://ted.com/membership Subscribe to a TED newsletter: https://ted.com/newsletters Follow TED! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ted LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ted-conferences TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedtoks Facebook: https://facebook.com/TED X: https://www.twitter.com/TEDTalks The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less) — plus originals, podcasts and exclusive content. Look for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design as well as science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit https://TED.com for our entire library, transcripts, translations and personalized recommendations. Watch more: https://go.ted.com/drewmccartor https://youtu.be/57afWpv-9u4 TED videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with the TED Talks Usage Policy: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a request at https://media-requests.ted.com #TED #TEDTalks #Health