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Paint companies commit to comply with phase-out deadline for leaded decorative paints
June 7, 2015
Paint companies commit to comply with phase-out deadline for leaded decorative paints
QUEZON CITY, June 7 -- The results of a new study that detected high levels of toxic lead -- a brain-damaging chemical -- in solvent-based paints applied on the interiors and exteriors of homes, schools and other child-related facilities, drew positive reactions from paint companies who committed themselves into shifting to non-lead materials.
The EcoWaste Coalition, a not-for-profit watchdog group for chemical safety and zero waste, released the “Lead in New Enamel Household Paints in the Philippines: The 2015 Report” last Thursday at an event attended by over 100 people, including educators, parents and representatives of the Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers, Philippine Institute of Architects, Philippine Medical Association and the San Juan Division of City Schools.
As per laboratory analyses conducted in Europe, 97 out of the 140 solvent-based decorative paints (69 percent) -- mostly made by smaller manufacturers—had lead levels above 90 parts per million (ppm). Sixty-three of these paints contained dangerously high lead concentrations above 10,000 ppm, with four brands containing lead between 102,000 to 153,000 ppm, the report noted
The Chemical Control Order for Lead and Lead Compounds (CCO), signed by Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje in December 2013, provides for a 90 ppm total lead content limit in paints and directs a phase-out period until 2016 for leaded decorative paints and until 2019 for leaded industrial paints.
Read more at Philippine Information Agency.
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