Global action to substitute Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) with safer alternatives will be on the agenda of the fourth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM4) that began at Geneva, Switzerland on Monday.
The true costs of the chemical industry's products include more than just the costs to produce them. The costs of illness and environmental devastation amount to over $1 trillion (USD) per year, paid for by the public rather than the chemical industry.
IPEN’s Asian Lead Paint Elimination Project was developed to eliminate lead in paint in seven Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The Asian Lead Paint Elimination Project is one part of a larger campaign to eliminate lead paint worldwide. In 2007 and 2008, NGOs in IPEN’s network collected and analyzed decorative (home use) paints on the market in 11 developing countries, and in countries with economies in transition. The results were startling. In every one of these countries, many of the solvent-based, decorative enamel paints contained dangerously high lead levels. In response, IPEN launched a worldwide lead paint elimination campaign. Since then, IPEN-affiliated NGOs and others have sampled and analyzed paints on the market in approximately 40 low- and middle-income countries.
This report tells the story of how seven Asian countries succeeded in reducing lead levels in paint in their countries and highlights the project accomplishments in each country. Read it here.
