Group seeks ban on lead-tainted paints sold online from Davao City

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Spray paints being sold online here from Davao City were found to be highly toxic, prompting an environmental watchdog to call for a ban on these products.

The group EcoWaste Coalition has appealed to dealers of aerosol or spray paints from not to sell products containing amounts of lead that are beyond the standard level for safety.

EcoWaste Coalition revealed that three of the 13 spray paints that it had found to contain dangerously high concentrations of lead were procured from an online dealer who shipped the items from Davao City.

Lead is already banned as a component in the manufacture of paints.

“We appeal to online as well as offline sellers of lead-containing spray paints to discontinue the unlawful sale of such products that goes against the government’s policy of eliminating lead paints,” said Thony Dizon, EcoWaste Coalition’s chemical safety campaigner.

Dizon has also appealed to online shopping sites to take down advertisements for the toxic paints to protect consumers from ordering items that can later lead to lead poisoning.

The group said three variants of F1 Aerosol Paint from the online dealer were among those found by the coalition to have excessively high lead content.

A leaf green F1 spray paint had 56,100 parts per million (ppm) lead, a medium yellow F1 had 50,800 ppm and an orange yellow F1 had 11,500 ppm. The manufacturer and country of origin of the products are not written on the label.

The group had earlier announced its discovery of more toxic paints with lead content ranging from 4,500 to 56,100 ppm, which are way above the total lead content limit of 90 ppm set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

According to Dr. Geminn Louis Apostol, an environmental health scientist, lead paint chips and dust are formed when a surface covered with lead paint ages, peels and breaks.

Apostol warned against children’s exposure to lead which can come through the paint chips or breathing in lead dust.

Apostol said this can hurt the development of brains and cause reduced intelligence, learning ability and attention span, as well as increased risk of behavioral problems like aggression, bullying and violence.

The EcoWaste Coalition had so far discovered 50 lead-tainted aerosol paints being sold by online and in-store retailers in violation of the country’s lead paint regulation.

These toxic spray paints, according to the group, are produced by companies that do not belong to the Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers.

TSB