Warning Out on More China-Made Paints with High Levels of Lead
(EcoWaste Coalition demands strict enforcement of the lead paint ban to protect children’s and workers’ health)
21 March 2025, Quezon City. Just a few days after it released a list of 168 imported spray paints with high lead levels, the EcoWaste Coalition found two more violative products from China that are sold online.
As part of its sustained advocacy to protect children’s and workers’ health from the harmful impacts of lead exposure, the group purchased two colors of “made in China” Collrfia Spray from an online seller for P61 per can.
While its country of manufacture is indicated on the paint can, no information is provided about the manufacturer, importer or distributor of the said paint, as well as its lead content.
According to the chemical screening conducted the EcoWaste Coalition on dried samples of the said paint using a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, the light green color paint contained a whopping 81,900 parts per million (ppm) of lead, while the art yellow one had 43,570 ppm.
The levels of lead detected on Collrfia Spray Paint are way beyond the limit set by the government. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) A.O. No. 2013-24 prohibits paints with lead above 90 ppm. It also provided for the phase-out of lead-containing paints for decorative purposes in December 2016, and December 2019 for such paints used for industrial applications.
“Lead is a metal and a multi-system toxicant for which no safe level of exposure has been identified,” according to a fact sheet published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “One major source of exposure, particularly for children, is through lead paint, or paint to which lead compounds have been added as pigments, drying agents or anti-corrosives.”
“Lead can be harmful to people of all ages, with children, infants and foetuses being particularly at risk,” UNEP said. “Health effects of lead include reduced intelligence quotient scores and intellectual deficits. The main sources of exposure for infants and children are food and drinking water, household dust, soil, and mouthing of products containing lead.”
“Workers are at high risk of exposure as large quantities of lead can be released during manufacturing, application and removal of lead paint,” UNEP pointed out.
To protect the children, workers and the general public from the health-damaging effects of lead exposure, the EcoWaste Coalition has recommended the following
1. For paint manufacturers in all countries to stop the use of lead-based raw materials;
2. For paint importers, distributors, and retailers to require certificates of conformity with the 90 ppm total lead content limit from manufacturers and traders;
3. For paint stores to only offer compliant and adequately labeled paint products; and
4. For paint consumers to discontinue the use of leaded products and to seek out lead-safe paints.
Reference:
Public Notice on Lead-Containing Paints – Ecowaste Coalition DAO-2013-24-CCO-Lead.pdfSAICM Lead in Paint 3
