EcoWaste Coalition Advocates for Measures to Eliminate Preventable Sources of Lead Exposure

The EcoWaste Coalition advocates for policies and other measures to eliminate preventable sources of lead exposure in children's environments, as well as contribute to the goal of ending childhood lead poisoning by 2040.

22 October 2026, Quezon City.  As the observance of the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (ILPPW) draws to a close, the toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition appealed to various regulatory agencies to act expeditiously on the group's proposed measures to eliminate lead exposure and prevent childhood lead poisoning.

In letters sent in 2024 to 2026 to regulatory agencies under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Health (DoH), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the EcoWaste Coalition put forward policy measures targeting some lead exposure sources, including lead in new paints, lead in accessible parts of children’s products, lead in plumbing supplies, and lead in cosmetics, which, if considered, will contribute to the ongoing efforts to protect the people, especially the children, from the irreversible harm caused by lead poisoning. 

As current policies and regulations are not enough, the EcoWaste Coalition will work with other stakeholders in pushing for a national strategy and action plan addressing all lead exposure sources in the country, including legacy lead-based paints, lead-acid battery recycling, smelting, and battery breaking, informal e-waste recycling, and lead in consumer products, in support of the global goal to end childhood lead poisoning by 2040.

The EcoWaste Coalition, together with the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), collaborated with government and industry stakeholders to push for the national lead paint ban through DENR A.O. 2013-24. The promulgation of this law led to the adoption of national and local policies mainstreaming the ban, such as the Department of Education Order No. 4-2017 requiring the compulsory use of lead-safe paints in schools, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular No. 2018-26 enjoining mandatory procurement of lead-safe paints by local government units (LGUs), which the DILG reiterated through an advisory in 2023.  The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also issued a directive ordering the use of lead-safe paints in all residential and non-residential social welfare facilities under its jurisdiction. Together with its local members, the EcoWaste Coalition worked with councilors to get ordinances adopted in Davao City and Quezon City directing the use of lead-safe paints in construction, maintenance, and renovation projects. 

Lead in Paints

While the Philippines completed the phase-out of lead-containing decorative paints in 2016, followed by the phase-out of lead-containing industrial paints in 2019, a new study conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition in 2025-2026 with support from the Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP) found 13 out of 30 locally-made decorative and industrial paints with lead levels above the maximum limit of 90 parts per million (ppm). Of these laboratory-tested paints, nine contained lead above 10,000 ppm, and one paint manufactured in 2025 reached 124,000 ppm. None of these leaded products were produced by companies affiliated with the Philippine Paint and Coatings Association, Inc. (PPCAI). In response to this blatant breach of the lead paint ban, the EcoWaste Coalition urged the EMB to investigate and consider the group’s four-point recommendations.  It also urged the EMB to support the listing of lead chromates in the Rotterdam Convention, a call supported by 40 civil society organizations.

Regarding lead paint imports, the EcoWaste Coalition urged the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to tighten checks on paint products entering the ports.  Laboratory tests commissioned by the group from 2020 to date found 260 imported paints representing 56 brands with lead above 90 ppm.  Of these 260 paints, 184 contain high lead concentrations above 10,000 ppm.  Moreover, 91 of these paints have lead levels ranging from 50,000 ppm to 212,000 ppm, of which 19 paints exceeded 100,000 ppm.  Ironically, 51 of these lead-containing paints were labeled “lead-free” or carried the “No Pb” symbol (lead is a heavy metal with atomic number 82 and a symbol Pb from the Latin plumbum).  PPCAI member companies did not import, distribute, or sell the leaded spray paints, mostly marked "made in China." 

Lead in Accessible Parts of Children’s Products

The EcoWaste Coalition urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to come up with a policy regulating lead in accessible components of children’s products, including zipper teeth, sliders, and pull tabs in school bags, buttons, grommets, and accessories of kids’ clothing, and other articles marketed for children’s use.  The group raised the proposal after discovering lead in the zipper sliders and pull tabs of school backpacks and lunch bags. Out of 46 backpacks analyzed, 17 had metallic zippers containing lead between 12,040 ppm and 30,320 ppm, and out of 11 lunch bags, six lunch bags had metallic zippers laden with 13,360 ppm to 25,670 ppm of lead (US limits lead in accessible parts of children’s products to not more than 100 ppm). The group also recommended mandatory safety labels on children’s products to inform and guide consumers in making sound purchasing decisions.

LEAD-FREE FUTURE FOR EVERY CHILD. All  children deserve to grow up in homes and communities free of lead contamination, which can harm their developing brains and bodies.

Lead in Plumbing Supplies

While the Code on Sanitation of the Philippines and DENR A.O. 2013-24 prohibit lead in water pipes, the EcoWaste Coalition has detected alarming lead levels in new water faucets sold in the market.  X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) screening results indicate lead content in 17 of the 27 water faucets.  Confirmatory tests found lead ranging from 60,400 to 76,100 ppm in five selected samples sent to the laboratory, which are well above EU and US limits.  Also, four of these five faucets leached lead based on tests, with the average amounts of released lead ranging from 158 ug/mL to 390 ug/mL.

In light of these findings, the EcoWaste Coalition, supported by 26 other civil society organizations, urged the EMB to issue a Memorandum Circular in relation to DENR A.O. 2013-24 that will reiterate the prohibition on lead in water pipes and clarify that such a ban covers faucets and other plumbing fixtures used in the provision of water.  The group further urged the DTI through the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS) to develop mandatory standards for lead in faucets and other plumbing fixtures, and for it to include faucets in the list of products under mandatory certification with corresponding labeling and/or marking requirements.

Lead in Cosmetics

Under the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive (ACD), heavy metals cannot be intentionally added to products. To account for trace impurities from raw materials, the ACD enforces strict maximum contaminant limits.  For lead, the trace amount limit is <20 ppm.  The ASEAN Cosmetic Committee (ACC) adopted this limit in December 2007, or almost 20 years ago. To eliminate a highly preventable source of lead exposure, the EcoWaste Coalition urged the FDA to adopt a lower, health-protective limit nationally for lead as an impurity in lipsticks and other cosmetics, and push for its eventual adoption regionally through the ACC.  For its latest sampling in time for 2026 National Lipstick Day, 17 Qianxiu lipsticks out of 133 samples were found to contain lead ranging from 28 to 40,230 ppm (lead was not detected in 111 lipsticks, while lead traces were detected in five).

The EcoWaste Coalition advocates for a zero waste and toxics-free society, and for the protection of the human right of every Filipino to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.