Dangerous lead levels in 50% of industrial paints: Study

Dangerous levels of lead exist in 50 per cent of industrial paint brands while 39 per cent of decorative paints exceed the permissible limit, says a study.

The highest 97,000 parts per million (ppm) of lead was found in an industrial paint brand, said the study titled “Lead on paints: A significant pathway of lead exposure in Bangladesh”.

The Environment and Social Development Organisation (ESDO) conducted the study. The findings were published at a programme at the ESDO office in the capital on Thursday.

According to Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), all kinds of paints must have lead levels below 90ppm.

The most contaminated paint brand contains 1,078 times more lead than the permissible level though the word “lead-free” was emblazoned on the container, the study said.

Also, the containers of 63 per cent of the samples in the study mentioned the word “lead-free” while the remaining 37 per cent contained no information about the chemical element’s presence. The BSTI says mentioning this information on containers is mandatory.

ESDO Executive Director Siddika Sultana said around 35.5 million Bangladeshi children are impacted by lead contamination.

She said there is no safe limit on lead in human blood and each part of lead is harmful to health.

“To reduce the harmful impacts of lead on human health and the environment, we should be more focused on searching its sources.”

How industrial paints affect people

Every colour in various products that we use in our everyday lives comes from paints, including toys and clothes. On the other hand, people paint their houses with decorative paints.

Experts said both household and industrial paints are dangerous to health. In both cases, children are most vulnerable as they tend to test anything with their tongue. Lead enters the body through inhalation and ingestion.

ESDO Secretary General Shahriar Hossain said humans are affected by lead from paints in three stages.

“Firstly, when paints are manufactured in factories, workers inhale lead. Secondly, when this paint is used to add colour to something else such as fabrics, workers are affected by contamination. Finally, mass people are affected when they use those products,” he explained.

All the lead then spreads in the environment and gets mixed with plants and animals, he further said, adding, “It then enters the human body again through the food chain.”

ESDO collected 63 samples of national and multinational paint brands for the study. Of those, 39 were national and 24 were multinational brands.

Besides, 43 samples were of decorative paints and 20 were of industrial ones. Samples were purchased from different retail markets in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, and Bogura. They were tested in the laboratory.

Children at highest risk

Lead is highly persistent in nature, and bioaccumulation in the food chain can lead to adverse health impacts. Infants and young children absorb about 4.5 times more lead that enters their bodies than adults.

According to a study by the United Nations Children’s Fund and Pure Earth, a third of the world’s children are poisoned by lead and Bangladesh is the fourth most seriously hit country in terms of the number of children affected.

Lead reduces the intelligence of children due to exposure in childhood and the World Health Organisation (WHO) listed lead-caused mental retardation as a recognised disease. The WHO also lists it as one of the top 10 diseases whose health burden among children is caused by modifiable environmental factors.

Recommendations

The study suggested conducting a national survey that covers all local, national, and international paint brands. All local brands have been suggested to be under the umbrella of the paint manufacturers’ association for proper tracking and surveillance.

Besides, the study suggested forming a joint task force comprising academics as well as officials from Bangladesh Paint Manufacturer’s Association, BSTI, the ministries of environment and industries, and other regulatory bodies.

Above 80 per cent of the country’s paint market is in the hands of multinational brands, including Berger Paints and Asian Paints. Bangladeshi companies hold the remaining share, with Roxy Paints and RAK Paints being the dominant players.