EcoWaste Coalition calls for stronger measures to stop lead paint imports

QUEZON CITY — Confirmatory analyses contracted by the EcoWaste Coalition and undertaken by SGS, a global testing company, verified the presence of toxic lead in 27 paint samples imported from China and Thailand that are offered for sale in the domestic market, including e-commerce sites. Dismayed by this egregious breach of the law, the group called on the authorities to adopt stronger measures to reinforce the lead paint ban and thus protect public health.

As per laboratory test results, the 27 paints representing 11 brands were analyzed to contain lead in excess of 90 parts per million (ppm) making them patently illegal to import, distribute and sell in the Philippines, noting the country’s successful completion of the phase-out deadlines for lead-containing decorative paints in December 2016 and lead-containing industrial paints in December 2019 in accordance with the DENR-issued Chemical Control Order (CCO) banning lead in paints and similar surface coatings.

Of the 27 paints, 19 were analyzed to contain lead above 10,000 ppm of which four had staggering lead concentrations exceeding 100,000 ppm, including two products bearing a “No Pb” pictogram despite evidence to the contrary (one product contains 117,000 ppm and the other has 138,000 ppm). Pb is the chemical symbol for lead from its Latin name plumbum.   

“The discovery of lead in more imported paints sold locally points to the urgent need to enhance enforcement measures to address gaps and ensure that the lead paint ban is effectively implemented for public health and safety,” said Manny Calonzo, campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition. “We call on the authorities to jointly carry out such measures, including tightening customs controls, intensifying compliance monitoring, charging and penalizing violators, and nominating lead chromates for listing in the Rotterdam Convention, to reinforce the ban on lead, a multi-system toxicant, in paints and similar surface coatings.”

“We urge the government of the Philippines to join Cameroon, Morocco and Switzerland in advocating for the inclusion of lead chromates in the Rotterdam Convention as the treaty’s Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure will help in controlling the global trade of this key ingredient in lead paint production,” said Jeiel Guarino, Global Lead Paint Elimination Campaigner, International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN).  “If listed, companies that export lead chromates or paints containing them will no longer be allowed to export these goods to a country that has not consented to import them.”

The list of 27 paints found to contain lead includes:

Boston Spray Paint: antirust substrate gray (2,380 ppm);
Collfria Spray Paint: orange red (3,050 ppm);
Colorz Aerosol Spray Paint: medium yellow (57,100 ppm), jade green (35,600  ppm) and flash red (1,900 ppm);
Colorz Chisai Acrylic Spray Paint: canary yellow (56,100 ppm), antirust brown (27,000 ppm), orange red (22,800 ppm), , medium gray (3,790 ppm);
JMJAFA Spray Paint: deep yellow (94,700 ppm);
King Sfon Aerosol Spray: leaf green (62,100 ppm);
Koby Spray Paint: forest green (96,700 ppm);
Nikko Spray All Purpose Quick Drying High Gloss Acrylic: antirust
primer red (8,340 ppm);
Standard Aerosol Spray Paint: medium yellow (182,000 ppm), light green (107,000 ppm);
Standard JR Spray Paint: medium yellow (138,000 ppm), art yellow (117,000 ppm), willow green (79,900 ppm);
Tiger Quick Drying Lacquer Spray Paint: orange (78,000 ppm);
Yatibay Acrylic Spray Paint: blackish green (16,900 ppm); and
YiAD Paint: orange (63,900 ppm), yellow (57,300 ppm), light green (45,500 ppm), green (39,000 ppm), pink (3,560 ppm), blue (5,290 ppm), light sky blue (3,900 ppm).

None of these violative paints is manufactured, imported or distributed by affiliates of the Philippine Paint & Coatings Association, Inc. (PPCAI), a partner of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint, together with the Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc., Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), IPEN and the EcoWaste Coalition.

Coinciding with International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, from October 19 to 25, the EcoWaste Coalition will release an updated Public Notice on Lead-Containing Paints that it has co-published with PPCAI and IPEN to alert and guide consumers in making informed purchasing decisions.