Copyright journal
Quezon City. The toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition has discovered a new spray paint brand sold online with lead content that would make it illegal to import, distribute and sell in the Philippines. Based on the X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) screening it conducted, the dry samples of green, beige and orange Nasmc Spray Paint are laden with 4,591, 6,824 and 25,400 parts per million (ppm) of lead, respectively. The DENR-issued Chemical Control Order (CCO) for lead and its compounds banned the use of lead in paint manufacturing and established a maximum limit of 90 ppm for lead in all paints, including spray paints. The group obtained the paints from an online seller for P141 per 450 mL can. While the label provides product description, directions for use and emergency instructions, no information is given about its manufacturer and country of manufacture (other than the phrase “material from Japan”). All three products were manufactured on June 25, 2025, way past the CCO’s phase-out deadlines on December 31, 2016 for leaded decorative paints and December 31, 2019 for leaded industrial paints. The EcoWaste Coalition alerted consumers about its newest lead paint discovery a few days after it released a list of imported paints sold locally that have been verified to contain lead above the legal limit of 90 ppm. The release was held in time for the 13th International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (ILPPW) on October 19-25. The group released the updated “Public Notice on Lead-Containing Paints” naming the 228 laboratory-tested spray paints mostly made in China and Thailand with violative lead levels. The said notice was co-published by the EcoWaste Coalition, the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) and the Philippine Paint & Coatings Association, Inc. (PPCAI). The group advised consumers to reject lead-containing paints, noting that such products are a major source of exposure globally. A potent multi-system toxicant, lead can harm the brain, the central nervous system and other systems and organs of the human body. Exposure at an early age can result in lower intelligence quotient (IQ), inattentiveness, impaired learning ability, conduct disorder, aggression and other behavioral problems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “there is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.” WHO has listed lead among the ten chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern, which also includes arsenic, asbestos, benzene, cadmium, dioxins, mercury, highly hazardous pesticides, etc. The EcoWaste Coalition is pushing for stronger measures to eliminate lead paint imports, including the listing of lead chromates as hazardous chemicals in the Rotterdam Convention to control the global trade of these common lead-based pigments and paints containing them. https://www.ecowastecoalition.org/leadspraypaints/ https://chemical.emb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DAO-2013-24-CCO-Lead.pdf https://www.who.int/news-room/photo-story/photo-story-detail/10-chemicals-of-public-health-concern
