Report: Countries with Lead Paint Bans Continue to Export Lead Chromates
(Double-standard puts children and families at risk globally)
21 October 2024, Gothenburg, Sweden/Quezon City, Philippines. While most wealthy nations banned lead paint decades ago, lead paint is still used in more than half of the world’s countries. One reason: the ongoing exports of lead chromates, lead-based pigments used to make brightly colored paints that are the main ingredient in lead paints.
A new report from the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) finds that while the EU and other countries have banned the use of lead chromates, they continue to allow production and export of this paint ingredient with very little ability or capacity for importing countries to know and control what come in over their borders, putting children and families in recipient countries at risk from lead poisoning.
Lead chromates are yellow, orange, and red pigments, typically used to make bright paint colors. Alternatives for lead chromates used in paint have been used for decades and are widely available, typically without increased paint prices.
“Exports of lead chromates represent a dangerous and toxic trade that puts millions of children at risk of lead poisoning,” said Sara Brosché, PhD, a Science Advisor with IPEN and lead author of the report, Exporting Lead Poisoning: The Toxic Trade in Lead Chromates. “There has been progress in eliminating lead paint threats but as long as these exports and imports remain uncontrolled, the risks from the ongoing use of lead paint will remain high. We urge all countries to end the production and trade of lead chromates and stronger protections for the right-to-know about lead chromates in trade through the Rotterdam Convention.”
The Rotterdam Convention requires countries that are Parties to the Convention to ensure that certain hazardous chemicals are only exported to a country that has given its explicit consent, through a so-called Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure. By listing lead chromates under the Convention’s PIC procedure, countries that ban lead paint will be better equipped to enforce their ban, and countries without lead paint restrictions will be incentivized to adopt a ban.
To assess the trade in lead chromates, the IPEN study reviewed thousands of records from several data sources, including publicly available trade data and data on exports from India purchased from a company that collects detailed import-export information. The data showed that significant quantities of lead chromates are exported to many countries, including countries that have banned or restricted lead paint. While the data are not always specific, the study found that:
· Between 2020-22, EU exports of lead chromates went to between 43-48 countries, including between 36-39 countries that have banned or restricted lead paint.
· Export data from India for the same period showed exports of lead chromates to 78 countries. This data shows that 44 countries import lead chromates despite having banned or restricted lead paint.
· 65 countries reported annual imports of about 4,000 metric tonnes total of chrome-based pigments from Canada between 2020-2022. However, Canada only reported exports to one country. It is likely that these are lead chromates, though the publicly available data does not allow certainty.
Since 2007, IPEN member groups have collected and analyzed more than 5,000 paints in 59 countries and conducted awareness raising using the testing data. This work has supported development and adoption of lead paint regulations in more than 30 countries, with close to 40 more countries developing regulations. But more work needs to be done to end lead paint globally, including by regulating the trade in lead chromates.
“Our work has demonstrated the value of regulations to ban lead paint – in many countries, our testing has shown that regulations have resulted in reductions in lead paints sold,” said Jeiel Guarino, IPEN’s Global Lead Paint Elimination Campaigner. “With the observance of the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action, we must address the double-standard that allows wealthy countries to export lead chromates and regulate this toxic trade. It’s time to finish the job and ban lead paint to stop this poisoning of our children.”
Lead paint is a well-known source of lead exposure, with particular risks for children who face serious health threats from even very low levels of lead exposure. Childhood lead exposure damages the developing brain, as well as the nervous, immune, reproductive and cardiovascular systems, with a range of adverse effects including loss of IQ, attention deficit disorder, hypertension, and other physical and behavioral problems. Often, these effects are permanent, irreversible, and untreatable.
Reference:
https://ipen.org/documents/
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