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CAP calls for elimination of lead in paint

By Ramani
http://www.malaysiaoutlook.com/cap-calls-for-elimination-of-lead-in-paint/


The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) urged the Malaysian government to take immediate steps to eliminate lead in paint.

According to CAP’s analysis on usage of lead in new enamel household paints in Malaysia found that more than 60 % of 39 paint samples tested contained exceedingly high lead levels.

CAP’s call is in conjunction with the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action (ILPPWA), October 23 -29, 2016, co-led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), said its president S.M. Mohamed Idris.

CAP justified a report released by Global Lead Paint found that many decorative paints sold in over 40 low and middle income countries where studies have been conducted contained dangerous levels of lead, sometimes in direct violation of national regulation.

“The health impacts of lead exposure on young children’s brains are lifelong, irreversible and untreatable.

“We are limiting our children and our nation’s future intellectual development even though safe and effective alternatives are already in use and widely available globally.

“We must reduce this critical source of lead exposure to young children,” said CAP President, S.M. Mohamed Idris.

Based on Dr. Sara Brosché, IPEN’s Global Lead Paint Elimination Campaign Manager, she said that “Continued use of lead paint is a primary source of childhood lead exposure,”

“In Malaysia, there is currently no regulation in place limiting the amount of lead in paint for household and decorative use.

“We only have mandatory safety standards stipulating maximum acceptable migration of lead in paint of not more than 90 parts per million (ppm) in toys intended for children below 14 years old.

“This is not adequate because Malaysia’s measure on children’s toys provides only partial protection as it does not address domestic paints, which are paints most likely to contribute to childhood lead exposure.” added Idris.

He pointed out that  highly industrial countries adopted laws or regulations to control the lead content of decorative paints the paints used on the interiors and exteriors of homes, schools, and other child-occupied facilities beginning in the 1970s and 1980s.

The strictest standard, 90 parts per million (ppm) total lead content in decorative paint is common in many countries, including the Philippines, Nepal and the United States of America.

He hoped a ban on the manufacture, import, sale, distribution, use and export of lead paints are far more cost-effective in reducing exposure risks than any future remediation programmes.