QUEZON CITY — The toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition wrapped up its participation in this year’s International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (ILPPW) with an urgent plea to retailers, offline and online, to stop the unethical and unlawful distribution and sale of paints with violative levels of lead, a potent brain and reproductive toxicant and an endocrine disrupting chemical.
The group urged chain stores, particularly 167, 588, Divimart, Novo, NSN, PH, Super Budget, Tiong San and Unitop, to remove from the shelves paint products that have been verified to contain lead above the regulatory limit of 90 parts per million (ppm).
The group likewise urged online shopping giants Lazada and Shopee to take down product listings for non-compliant paints, leaded aerosol spray paints in particular, that are widely marketed using their platforms.
To guide chain store managers, e-commerce operators and others on which paint products not to offer to their customers, the EcoWaste Coalition encouraged concerned officers to check the “Public Notice on Lead-Containing Paints” for a listing of analyzed products with high lead content, which were mostly sourced from China and Thailand.
The unprecedented notice was co-released by the EcoWaste Coalition, the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) and the Philippine Paint and Coatings Association (PPCAI) to inform and alert paint retailers and consumers on 150 aerosol spray paints representing 37 brands that have failed the 90 ppm lead content limit.
The group also reminded chain store managers, e-commerce operators and others to check the public health warnings issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding spray paints containing lead.
FDA Advisory No. 2020-1585, in particular, provides a list of 37 spray paints consisting of 19 brands that tested with significant levels of lead. According to the monitoring conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition last August 2024, at least six paint brands with banned products are still available in the market, including Anton Spray Paint (Honda red), King Sfon Spray Paint (grass green), Koby Spray Paint (fresh green and Suzuki red), Sinag Spray Paint (orange red), Standard Spray Paint (orange yellow), and Yandy Spray Paint (jade green)
Additionally, the FDA issued Advisory Nos. 2023-1975, 2024-0766, and 2024-0767 warning the public against the purchase and use of lead-containing Nikko Spray Paint (light yellow), Chappie Spray Paint (orange red), and Standard Spray Paint (Jialing red), respectively.
To protect the children and other vulnerable populations such as women and workers against the adverse impacts of lead exposure, the EcoWaste Coalition appealed to paint retailers to only offer compliant and adequately labeled paint products.
“Paint importers, distributors and retailers must require certificates of conformity with the 90 ppm total lead content limit from paint manufacturers and traders,” the group said. It also advised paint consumers to discontinue the use of leaded products and to seek out lead-safe paints.
Realizing the need to control the global trade of typical ingredients used in lead paint manufacturing, the EcoWaste Coalition urged the Government of the Philippines to nominate lead chromates for listing as hazardous chemicals under Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention.
If listed, lead chromates and paints containing these pigments will be subject to the treaty’s Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure. Companies exporting lead chromates or paints containing them may not ship these commodities to a country that has not consented to receiving them. Also, countries can use the PIC rules to restrict or prevent the entry of lead chromates and paints that contain them
Lead in paint, a major source of childhood lead exposure, can adversely affect the brain and the central nervous system, as well as the blood, cardiovascular, digestive, skeletal and renal systems. Exposure to lead can bring about reduced intelligence, inattentiveness and increased rates of hyperactivity, impaired learning ability, and conduct disorder, aggression and other behavioral problems.
“There is no safe level of lead exposure,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has listed lead among the “ten chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern.”
Reference:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health
https://ipen.org/site/listing-lead-chromates-under-rotterdam-convention
