EcoWaste Coalition Deplores Importation of Highly Leaded Paints in Defiance of the Lead Paint Ban
These paints from China and Thailand contain lead above the 90 ppm limit and would be unlawful to import, distribute and sell.
13 July 2025, Quezon City. While lead in paint must not exceed the strict limit of 90 parts per million (ppm), the toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition deplored the nonstop entry of imported paints sold locally with outrageous levels of lead, a potent neurotoxin and an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC).
In its latest exposé, the group announced that 13 more paints, aerosol paints in particular, have been analyzed to contain lead way above the 90 ppm limit in violation of the Chemical Control Order (CCO) banning lead in paint manufacturing. Six of these paints were made in China and three from Thailand (the other four provided no information about their country of origin).
Based on laboratory tests commissioned by the group, nine of the 13 paints contained lead above 10,000 ppm with five products containing 114,000 ppm, 94,900 ppm, 88,100 ppm, 71,900 ppm and 70,600 ppm of lead. The products were purchased from home improvement and construction supplies stores in Manila, Pasay and Quezon Cities, and from an online seller.
“We deplore the continuing importation, distribution and sale of lead-containing paints in the market, including in online shopping platforms, in blatant violation of the CCO,” said Manny Calonzo, Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition. “Stricter global rules are needed to prevent the entry of these non-compliant paints into our ports, and protect the country’s lead paint ban from being disrespected and defied.”
“We see the continued trade of lead paints in countries with legally-binding lead paint regulations as an enforcement gap, which can be mitigated if there are stricter international policies that will end cross-border movement of lead paints and lead chromates—a common pigment used in paint manufacturing,” said Jeiel Guarino, Global Lead Paint Elimination Campaigner, International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN). “We urge countries that have adopted lead paint laws like the Philippines to submit lead chromate notifications to the Rotterdam Convention, which will subject lead chromates and lead paints under the treaty’s Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure.”
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| Laboratory tests confirm the presence of lead on six colors of Yatibay Spray Paint sold in Binondo, Manila and online. |
According to the tests performed by SGS on dried paint samples prepared and submitted by the EcoWaste Coalition for confirmatory analyses, the following products are lead paints, or paints with lead above the legal limit of 90 ppm:
- Yatibay Spray Paint: lemon yellow (114,000 ppm), army green (88,100 ppm), refrigerator green (67,200 ppm) and Isuzu desert yellow (29,200 ppm)
- Aeropak Spray Paint: medium yellow (94,900 ppm), yellow (71,900 ppm), leaf green (42,500 ppm) and gem green (2,580 ppm)
- Nikko Spray Paint: leaf green (9,860 ppm), orange red (4,800 ppm) and dark green (1,040 ppm)
- Collrfia Spray Paint: art yellow (70,600 ppm) and light green (13,100 ppm)
This will bring to 218 the number of laboratory-confirmed imported lead-containing spray paints discovered by the EcoWaste Coalition since 2020 as a result of its vigilant advocacy to promote stringent compliance to the country's globally recognized lead paint elimination policy.
None of these leaded paints was produced, imported or distributed by companies belonging to the Philippine Paint & Coatings Association, Inc., an industry leader in the elimination of lead-based paints.
To put a stop to this lingering violation of the CCO banning lead in paints, IPEN, the EcoWaste Coalition and other public interest groups are campaigning to get lead chromates listed under the Rotterdam Convention, a multilateral treaty to promote shared responsibilities among countries in relation to the importation of hazardous chemicals.
“Under the PIC rules, companies that export lead chromates or paints that contain them may not ship these commodities to a country that has not consented to receiving them. Further, countries can use the PIC Procedure to restrict or prevent the importation of lead chromates and paints that contain them,” Guarino explained. “Doing so will make it easier for them to enforce their national lead paint laws and this, in turn, will encourage more countries to adopt lead paint controls.”
The EcoWaste Coalition had already requested concerned stores to pull out the violative paints from the shelves, and to return them to their suppliers for environmentally-sound disposal.
References:
https://chemical.emb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DAO-2013-24-CCO-Lead.pdfhttps://www.ipen.org/site/listing-lead-chromates-under-rotterdam-convention
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