In 2002, the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development called for the phase-out of lead-based paints.
In 2009, the International Conference on Chemicals Management asked UNEP and WHO to establish a global partnership to promote phasing out lead in paint.
The United Nations Environmental Assembly and the World Health Assembly both have called upon governments to establish national controls on lead in paints.
In this same time period, we have achieved the global phase-out of leaded automobile fuels—a goal announced in 2002 at the same Johannesburg World Summit that called for the global phase-out of lead paints.
Why, after nearly 20 years, have we not eliminated lead paint globally?
According to the World Health Organization, lead is one of the ten heavy metals that need most attention to human health, especially children. It is estimated that in 2000, around 120 million people worldwide were exposed to lead, of which mainly children, each year an additional 600,000 children were recorded intellectually affected and 143,000 deaths were reported, due to lead exposure, especially in developing countries.
Most 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. In Bangladesh, ESDO has been working with key government agencies since 2010 to establish a specific regulation on lead in paint. ESDO has prepared a draft regulatory framework and guideline, and submitted it to the Department of Environment (DOE).
IPEN POs Step Up Campaign for Global Phase-Out of Lead Paints in time for the 9th International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
Thursday, 21 October 2021
Forty-eight IPEN Participating Organizations (POs) from 35 countries will take part in the upcoming International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (ILPPW) on 24-30 October 2021. With the theme “Working Together for a World Without Lead Paint,” various activities will be carried out to emphasize the need to accelerate progress toward the global phase-out of lead-containing paints through regulatory and legal measures. Additionally, IPEN will organize a webinar on “Catalyzing the Global Phase-Out of Lead Paints,” which will discuss how listing lead pigments in the Rotterdam Convention will advance global lead paint elimination; help countries adopt and enforce lead paint control regulations; and make exporting countries assume major responsibilities for the control of lead pigments and the lead paints that contain them.
Now on its ninth year, the week of action aims to raise awareness about the health effects of lead exposure; highlight the efforts of countries and partners to prevent lead exposure, particularly in children; and to urge further action to eliminate lead paint through regulatory action at country level. The ILPPW, which counts on the participation of IPEN and many of its POs from low- and middle- income countries, is an initiative of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint, which is jointly led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Lead is a toxic metal that causes adverse effects on both human health and the environment. While lead exposure is also harmful to adults, lead exposure harms children at much lower levels, and the health effects are generally irreversible and can have a lifelong impact. Lead paint is a major source of childhood lead exposure.
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, 41 IPEN participating organizations (POs) from 36 countries participated in the 8th edition of the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week on October 25 to 31, 2020. Civil society groups conducted activities, including policy meetings, public information dissemination and media outreach, to push for the adoption and/or enforcement of strong lead paint laws.
Quezon City, Philippines A groundbreaking Chemical Control Order (CCO) promulgated by the Government of the Philippines banning lead in the manufacture of all paints to prevent children’s and workers’ exposure to this toxic chemical was adjudged one of the five winners for this year’s Future Policy Award (FPA), also known as the “Oscar on best policies.” Other awardees are from Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka and Sweden.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu thanked the World Future Council (WFC) for the recognition. “This will inspire us to further strengthen the implementation of our chemical control policy and to develop other policies to protect human health and the environment,” he said. “Our drive to ensure safer lead-free paint products does not end with the issuance of this policy,” he emphasized, citing the government's continuing efforts to “strengthen monitoring to enhance environmental compliance among stakeholders and thereby ensure a healthy and lead-free environment for our people.”
Cimatu likewise acknowledged partners from the public and private sectors, including the EcoWaste Coalition and the Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers (PAPM), for their participation in the development and implementation of the trailblazing CCO. “We appreciate the vigilance of non-government organizations like the EcoWaste Coalition in the lead phase-out campaign. We also commend the academe and the PAPM for their support in making our CCO implementable.” The CCO issued in 2013 imposes a total lead content limit of 90 parts per million (ppm) on all paints and provides for a two-stage phase-out of lead-containing paints, which culminated on December 31, 2019.
Kathmandu, Nepal The World Wildlife Fund-WWF Nepal has awarded the ‘WWF Nepal Conservation Award 2020 to the Center for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED) for the latter’s efforts at biodiversity and environment conservation. The award was presented at a virtual award ceremony on Wednesday afternoon for CEPHED’s initiatives for eliminating POPs and Mercury from the country’s health sector.
Quezon City, Philippines A non-profit environmental health watchdog group monitoring compliance to the country’s ban on lead paint today revealed its discovery of six more spray paints with excessive levels of lead, bringing the number of violative aerosol paint products it had found to 56.
According to the latest ALERTOXIC issued by the EcoWaste Coalition, lead content analysis performed by a private laboratory detected lead up to a whopping 99,900 parts per million (ppm) on six bright color Tacoma Spray Paints, which the group purchased last April 14 from a hardware store chain.
Quezon City, Philippines A toxics watchdog group today announced that it has found more spray paints in the market that are contaminated with dangerously high concentrations of lead, a forbidden chemical in the manufacture of paints.
In a statement, the EcoWaste Coalition revealed that 13 spray paints with lead content ranging from 4,500 to 56,100 parts per million (ppm) are being sold to uninformed consumers by offline and online retailers in brazen violation of the country’s lead paint regulation limiting lead to a maximum of 90 ppm.
“Our latest market investigation conducted amid the COVID-19 pandemic netted 13 more spray paints with exceedingly high levels of lead that can present a serious health hazard over time,” said Thony Dizon, Chemical Safety Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition. “The authorities need to act with dispatch to ensure that these dangerous products are removed from the market and returned to their suppliers for environmentally sound disposal.”
