(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.
The European Commission is facing a second court challenge for allowing a Canadian company to sell two dangerous chemicals used for road markings and painting industrial machines in the EU. Environmental lawyers ClientEarth, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), the International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec) and IPEN are taking the European Commission to court after it refused to withdraw an EU-wide permit allowing the use of lead chromate pigments.
To date, the European Chemical Agency has received 380 notifications of companies declaring the use of lead chromate pigments in the EU since this authorisation. This is hindering the use of safer alternatives EU companies have invested in. Many companies have also already declared their intention to export these hazardous products to poorly regulated markets outside the EU.
