AN ENVIRONMENTAL group discovered that several hardware shops in Davao City continue to sell spray paints with high levels of lead.
In a press release, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (Idis) said it had checked several hardware shops in the city and discovered that they are still selling spray paints with high levels of lead, which were already prohibited due to the high content of lead in the paints.
Idis said this is against Ordinance No. 0461-18 or “An Ordinance Requiring the Use of Lead-Safe Paints in Construction, Maintenance and Renovation Projects and other Activities in the City of Davao” enacted in 2018.
Authored by Councilor Pilar Braga, the ordinance recognized the importance of using lead-safe paints, including enamels, glazes, lacquers, primers, stains varnishes and other surface coatings for publicly funded constructions, maintenance, and renovations, for the protection of children, pregnant women, and workers against the harmful effects of lead.
Under Section 5 (a) of the above-mentioned policy, “manufacturing, distribution, and selling of paints containing lead above the regulatory limit of 90 parts per million (ppm)” is prohibited. Section 6 stated those who are liable for violation of the said act, which includes distributor, manufacturer and/or seller of the said banned paints.
Idis Executive Director Mark Peñalver said they already wrote a letter to the management of one of the hardware stores, but there is no response about it.
He also said they already sent a letter and forwarded the test results to Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Braga for appropriate actions to the alarming issue.
“With this alarming concern that there are retail stores that sell paints with high levels of lead content, the City should strictly monitor these shops and ensure that they are compliant with regulatory measures provided by our laws, specifically the City’s ordinance on the use of lead-safe paints. Further, these retail stores have an obligation to provide their customers lead-safe paints and prevent exposure to harmful substances,” Peñalver said.
This comes after EcoWaste Coalition at Dasmariñas, Cavite recently conducted chemical tests wherein reports showed that several paints in their area contain violative levels of lead chemical.
As per laboratory analyses conducted by SGS and performed through inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), the “Made in China” Tacoma Spray Paints (with no manufacturer’s information) were found to contain violative levels of lead ranging from 195 to a whopping 99,900 ppm, way over the 90 ppm total lead content limit.
The product that SGS screened for lead using an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device was also found to contain lead more than 90 ppm limit
Thony Dizon, chemical safety campaigner of EcoWaste Coalition, urged leading construction retail store chains to pull out the non-compliant products and to only stock lead-safe paints with a valid certificate of analysis.
Dizon said such action will help in ensuring consumer access to paints that will not pose a lead exposure hazard, especially to young children.
"Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers of paints have the responsibility to ensure that products being sold in the market conform to national and local lead paint regulations," Dizon said.
In an advisory last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned the public against the purchase and use of spray paints which tested positive for significant levels of lead upon the conduct of laboratory tests on the collected samples.
According to FDA, lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems and is particularly harmful to young children and can suffer profound and permanent adverse health effects, particularly affecting the development of the brain and nervous system.
"It also causes long-term harm in adults, including increased risk of high blood pressure and kidney damage. Exposure of pregnant women to high levels of lead can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and low birth weight. There is no permissible level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects," FDA said.
The advisory is pursuant to its mandate under Republic Act 9711 or the “FDA Act of 2009” to ensure the safety and efficacy of health products in the country such as household/urban hazardous substances that may have an effect on health.