Thailand Institutes Lead Paint Regulation

(Bangkok, Thailand) On January 29, 2016, Thailand issued compulsory legislation controlling the amount of lead and other heavy metals in enamel paints, effective January 2017. According to this national decree, all enamel paints used for construction and decorative purposes which are manufactured or sold in Thailand must meet the following requirements:

• No more than 0.01% lead, mercury and cadmium (dry weight)
• No more than 0.1% hexavalent chromium (dry weight)

In addition, all alkyd enamel paints manufactured or sold in Thailand will be required to show a warning label about potential dangers from the product, for example, “contains toxic substance” or “keep away from children.”

The effort to regulate lead in paint in Thailand has been led by the Thai NGO, Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand (EARTH) as a part of IPEN’s Asian Lead Paint Elimination Project.

EARTH spearheaded the successful civil society campaign in Thailand in collaboration with academic institutions, government agencies and public interest organizations involved in consumer, environment and health protection. 

“We are extremely pleased that Thai children will be protected from exposure to lead in paint as a result of this legislation and that the consumer will receive warnings on the label. We hope that all manufacturers will comply with this new regulation, to reduce the future burden on public health from long-lasting environmental contamination from leaded paint,” said EARTH Director Penchom Saetang.

“This regulation will also be beneficial for children in other countries, because many Thailand-based manufacturers are major exporters of paint products, particularly in the ASEAN region.” she added. 

Thailand is the fourth country to adopt mandatory lead paint regulation in the last few years as a part of IPEN’s Global Lead Paint Elimination Campaign. Other countries that adopted recent regulation are: Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Philippines. Discussions leading toward regulation are underway in three other countries: Bangladesh, India and Indonesia.

In these and several other countries, recent studies have demonstrated high levels of lead in the majority of paints sold in national markets.

Original documents in Thai language:

January 29, 2016 - “Administrative Decree Requiring Alkyd Enamel Paints to Meet Industrial Product Standards”  http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2559/A/010/11.PDF. This national legislation refers to technical requirements specified in “Thai Industrial Standards No. 2625-2557: Safety Standard for Alkyd Enamel Paints” http://app.tisi.go.th/standard/fulltext/TIS-2625-2557.pdf

For more information:

Sara Brosche, IPEN Global Lead Paint Elimination Campaign: sarabrosche@ipen.org
Penchom Saetang, Executive Director, EARTH: penchom.earth@gmail.com