Ethiopia

(Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) A new study on the lead content of solvent-based paints for home use in Ethiopia released today by the Pesticide Action Nexus Association (PAN-Ethiopia) and IPEN shows that more than 80 percent of the analyzed paint brands sold have one or more paint that contained dangerously high total lead content greater than 10,000 parts per million (ppm). This is the third study on lead content in Ethiopian household decorative paints since 2012. Two orange paints contained 100,000 ppm lead or 10 percent of the paint’s content, more than 1,100 times the allowed threshold limit of 0.009 percent (90 ppm) established in many countries for lead in paint. This is also the maximum threshold limit from which the draft standard by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFC) is based on, expected to be ratified this year.

“Even minimal exposure to lead can impact children. We must completely eliminate it in paint. Whether large or small amount, it has a harmful effect,” Dr. Mengistu Asnake, President of the World Federation for Public Health Association, said at a workshop organized by PAN Ethiopia on June 4^th. Attending the workshop were leaders from the Ethiopian government and major media outlets.