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Colours discolouring lives
Painting a dark future... Source: Toxics Link Fact Sheet, Date: , 2005
Paints add colours to our lives. They are an everyday part
of our surroundings. We paint our walls, our furniture, our cars, our
buildings, and our bridges. Paints protect wood from rotting and metals from
corroding. However, what we overlook is the potential environmental and health
effects these colouful paints can have.
Composition of paints and their
harmful effects Paints present a toxic
concoction of various metals and compounds to be used as vehicles, pigments or
additives. These include organic solvents, cadmium, chromium, mercury and lead.
Volatile Organic Compound
Organic solvents emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into their
immediate environments. Exposure to VOCs over a long period of time leads to
damage to nervous system, blood and kidneys. Some of the key symptoms
associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and
throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin irritation, nausea, fatigue and
dizziness.
A WHO report released in 1989 reveals that professional painters had a 40 per
cent higher chance than a normal human to contract lung cancer, a higher risk
of nervous system disorders and female painters were likely to suffer frequent
miscarriages. It was also found that painters were more prone to producing
children with birth defects, had a higher than average chance of developing
brain tumours, cancers of stomach, lymph gland, larynx, kidney, prostrate gland
and liver.
Lead Lead is another composition in paints. Lead is readily
inhaled or ingested in body and can be found in blood, soft tissues and bones
where it can remain for long periods. Lead disturbs calcium metabolism and
hinders the development of chemical communication between neurons in the brains
and cellular activities. At high levels it tends to cause convulsions,
reproductive health problems, digestive disorders and high blood pressure,
nervous disorder, coma and even death.
Lead is more easily absorbed into growing bodies and tissues
of children. Tests have revealed that over 52 percent of children below the age
of 12 living in major urban areas of India have elevated levels of blood lead.
Unlike in developed countries like the USA, UK and Germany that have taken
aggressive steps to combat lead poisoning, developing countries have been slow
to establish any substantive measures to tackle the problem. An important
reason is a lack of awareness and data.
A number of properties of lead make it commercially
attractive for use in paints.
- Has
vibrance
- It
is easy to work with and durable
- Low
melting point
- Has
the ability to form carbon metal compounds
- Holds
pigments well
- Is
easily recyclable
- Stands
up well to outside weather elements
- Has
a high degree of corrosion resistance
- Reduces
paint drying time
- Is
inexpensive
In the form of lead carbonate and lead oxides it has
excellent adhesion, drying and covering abilities.
Exposure to lead in paint can happen in various ways. Climatic changes and
humidity lead to the peeling off of paints in homes, generating fine lead dust,
which is inhaled or consumed by residents. Children are the most vulnerable to
these toxic effects.
There is an increased formation of lead dust during
repainting or renovation of houses, when prior to applying a fresh coat of
paint on pre-painted walls, the existing paint is scraped or sanded using
abrasive paper. This generates a lot of paint dust that settles on floors,
walls and furniture. Under these conditions fine dust can be dispersed into the
air through cleaning or by movement of people through the house and thus be
inhaled.
The
sixth session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) was held
in Dakar, Senegal from 15th to 19th September 2008 where a key resolution was
adopted to promote the implementation of the measures to phase out lead from
lead-based paints especially in developing countries and countries with
economies in transition. Toxics Link representing International POPs
Elimination Network (IPEN) moved this resolution. During the VI session it was
proposed to establish an ad-hoc Working Group following the lead sponsor
approach to prepare a draft terms of reference for a global partnership to be
submitted to the International Conference on Chemicals Management II (ICCM-II)
to consider taking a decision to support concerted action to promote the
implementation of the measures contained in the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD), Plan of Implementation (POI) paragraph 57. The WSSD POI in
paragraph 57 states, “Phase out lead in lead-based paints and in other sources
of human exposure, work to prevent, in particular, children's exposure to lead
and strengthen monitoring and surveillance efforts and the treatment of lead
poisoning.” The ICCM-II is tentatively scheduled to be held from 11 to 15 May
2009 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The
World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), convened from 26 August to 4
September 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa took two decisions to protect
children’s health from exposure to lead. Paragraph 56 (b) of the WSSD POI
called for: “Supporting the phasing out of lead in gasoline.” It was also noted
that considerable progress has been made toward achieving a global phase out of
lead in automotive paints which was primarily the important work of the
Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV) in its implementation of WSSD
POI Paragraph 56 (b). The other decision of WSSD to protect children’s exposure
from lead was paragraph 57 as stated above.
During the sixth session the IFCS, a side event was also
held on ‘Lead in Paints in Developing Countries: An Unfinished Agenda’ in which
continued use of lead in paints in countries across the developing world and
the risks to human health associated due to presence of lead in paints were
thoroughly discussed. Lack of regulations and low levels of awareness on the
health hazards of lead in the developing countries were the points of
concerns.The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), International Labour
Organisations (ILO) and World Health Organisations (WHO) formed IFCS in April
1994 on the recommendations of United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in year 1992. The IFCS
provides an open, transparent and inclusive forum for discussing issues of
common interest and also new and emerging issues in the area of sound
management of chemicals.
IFCS
plays a unique multi-faceted role as a flexible, open and transparent
brainstorming and bridge-building forum for Governments, intergovernmental
organizations and non-governmental organizations including from the private
sector. This role has facilitated consensus building on issues and actions
addressing the sound management of chemicals. By its efforts it contributes to
the implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals
Management (SAICM) and the work of other chemicals-related international
organizations and institutions.
Adopted
Resolution for Eliminating Lead in Paints
The delegates of the IFCS, Forum, VI, at its meeting at Dakar, Senegal,
15th-19th, September, 2008: -
- Recognising that lead in
paints poses serious risks to human health and the environment, and
especially to the health of children,
- Taking into account that
most children exposed to lead live in developing countries and countries
with economies in transition,
- Being that household paints
sold in developing countries contain lead,
- Aware that safer and
affordable alternatives already exist for lead in paints,
- Affirming that many
consumers especially in developing countries, are unaware of the dangers
posed by lead in paints
- Noting that WSSD POI
paragraph 56 (b) supports the phasing out of lead in gasoline;
- Applauding the important
work of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV) in its implementation
of WSSD POI paragraph 56 (b)
- Further noting that much
progress has being made toward achieving a global phase out of lead in
automotive fuels,
- Recognising that the WSSD
POI in paragraph 57 also calls for the phasing out of lead in lead-based
paints and in other sources of human exposure, and calls for work to
prevent, in particular, children's exposure to lead and to strengthen
monitoring and surveillance efforts and the treatment of lead poisoning;
- Decides that a global
partnership to promote the implementation of the measures contained in
WSSD POI paragraph 57 is essential, especially for developingcountries and
countries with economies in transition;
- Further decides to support
the phase out of lead in lead-based paints.
- Requests the Forum Standing
Committee to establish an ad-hoc Working Group following the lead sponsor
approach to prepare a draft Terms of Reference for a global partnership to
be submitted to the ICCM-2 to consider taking a decision to support
concerted action to promote the implementation of the measures contained
in WSSD POI paragraph 57.
- Invites the Governing
Bodies of relevant Intergovernmental Organisations, including UNEP, WHO,
and other IGOs to support and participate in such an initiative.
- Invites the UNEP Governing
Council at its 25th Session to consider providing support for such
concerted action.
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