Lead found in Manila public playgrounds

Environmental watchdog EcoWaste Coalition has urged Manila officials to conduct a “lead hazard assessment” of facilities frequented by children after it found out that the paint used in some public playgrounds in the city contain toxic chemicals.

The group’s findings which were released on Wednesday were based on tests it ran on the equipment found in the playgrounds at Rizal Park in Ermita; Plaza Azul on Quirino Avenue and Plaza de la Virgen on West Zamora Street, both in Pandacan; and Dakota on Adriatico Street in Malate.

According to Thony Dizon, coordinator of EcoWaste Coalition’s “Project Protect,” 16 out of 29 swings, seesaws, monkey bars and other facilities screened by an X-Ray Fluorescence analyzer tested positive for lead in amounts far above the 90 ppm (parts per million) safety limit set by the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

Among the playgrounds, the equipment with the highest toxic content levels were found at the Dakota playground where the paint on five out of six samples contain lead ranging from 44,800 ppm to 200,700 ppm.

In addition to lead, one sample also tested positive for cadmium, another toxic chemical, at 776 ppm.

On the other hand, the equipment at Plaza de la Virgen yielded a maximum of 190,000 ppm lead content; Plaza Azul, 79,000 ppm; and Rizal Park, 7,126 ppm.

“Our findings should stir the city government [into undertaking] lead hazard assessment and remedial action to ensure that playgrounds and other facilities frequented by children are safe from dangerous chemicals,” Dizon said.

In a press statement, EcoWaste Coalition said it had written to Mayor Alfredo Lim, concerned barangay officials and National Parks Development Committee Executive Director Juliet Villegas to ask them to inspect, cordon off or repaint the lead-tainted playground equipment, especially those with old, chipping paint.

At the same time, it pushed for the conduct of toxic inspections on maternity and pediatric wards, day care centers and schools as well as the soil found in playgrounds.

Underscoring that there are no safe levels of lead for children, Manny Calonzo, the group’s steering committee member, urged government officials to fast-track “child-friendly” health policies such as a ban on the use of paint which contain toxic chemicals.

Quoting the World Health Organization, EcoWaste said that lead could cause “serious, and in some cases, irreversible neurological damage” among children.

A week ago, the group also discovered high levels of lead and other toxic chemicals in  drinking utensils sold by sidewalk vendors in Manila.