90% of paint samples tested contain lead above permissible limits in India: Study

Subject: Environment

Section: Pollution

Context:

51 paints used to paint houses, which are available in the Indian market, analyzed by two research and advocacy groups Toxics Link and International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), a network of over 600 non-governmental organizations.

Findings of the research:

According to the ‘Regulation of Lead Contents in Household and Decorative Paints Rules, 2016’, which came into force in 2017, manufacture, trade, import and export of household and decorative paints containing lead or lead compounds in excess of 90 ppm is prohibited in India.
Over 90% of them contain lead concentrations above the Central government’s permissible limit of 90 parts per million (ppm).
76.4% of these paints contained lead more than 111 times the permissible limit.

What is Lead?

It is a naturally occurring toxic metal found in the Earth’s crust.
Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones, where it accumulates over time.
Human exposure is usually assessed through the measurement of lead in blood.
Lead in bone is released into blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing foetus.
There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.
Lead exposure is preventable.

Sources of lead contamination:

Burning materials containing lead, for example during smelting, recycling, stripping leaded paint and using leaded aviation fuel.
Ingestion of lead-contaminated dust, water (from leaded pipes) and food (from lead-glazed or lead-soldered containers).

Effect of lead concentration:

The toxic effects of lead on children’s brains are irreversible and lifelong and children aged six years and below are the most vulnerable to lead poisoning.
Lead can affect different organ systems, including hematological cells, brain, kidney, gastrointestinal tract and liver.
It gets stored in bone and can be released gradually from there.
It can also be transferred from a pregnant woman to a foetus.

Poor market surveillance:

The surveillance is poor and there is an incentive for the manufacturers as pigments used in making paints that contain lead are cheaper compared to pigments without lead.

Global efforts:

The World Health Organisation (WHO), along with the United Nations Environment Programme, has formed the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint, which has the aim of encouraging all countries to have legally binding laws to control the use of lead in paint.

International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN):

IPEN is a global network forging a healthier world where people and the environment are no longer harmed by the production, use, and disposal of toxic chemicals.
Over 600 public interest NGOs in more than 120 countries, largely low- and middle-income nations, comprise IPEN and work to strengthen global and national chemicals and waste policies, contribute to ground-breaking research, and build a global movement for a toxics-free future.
Objective include:
- Reducing and eliminating the world’s most hazardous chemicals.
- Promoting stronger international chemicals standards.
- Halting the spread of toxic metals.
- Building a global toxics-free movement.

Source: TH