Why Kenya must move to phase out lead in paints

Kenya is expected to join the world in marking ‘the Sixth International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action’ from October 21 to 27.

This affords the country the best opportunity to renew its commitment to implementing the recently enacted regulations restricting use of lead in paints to avoid the devastating impacts of the heavy metal on human and environmental health.

Lead and its compounds are used widely in the manufacture of various types of paint in Kenya.

This is mainly because the chemical gives the product brilliant colours, prevents rusting on the painted metal surfaces and makes oil-based paint dry faster and more evenly.

But lead has over the years been proven to be a cumulative and persistent toxicant that affects practically every system within the human body, particularly the intellectual development and wellbeing of children — which results in significant learning challenges.

Lead-based paints remain one of the major sources of lead exposure and a common cause of lead poisoning since they are extensively used in homes, schools, public buildings, toys, furniture and playground equipment as well as industries, vehicles and road markings.

Freshly painted surfaces, with lead-based paint, are not immediate sources of lead exposure.

The fact is that over time, these surfaces deteriorate, peel off and become airborne thus spreading toxic contamination. Paint works that involve sanding and welding may also contribute to these exposures.

Renovations, demolitions and re-painting activities may result in heavy dust containing lead.

Besides, raw leaded materials may become airborne during manufacturing and settle down as dust, which is easily inhaled and ingested. This dust further contaminates the soil, water and gets into humans through various food chains.

Lead in paint was first identified as one of the emerging policy issues during the second International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM) in 2009.

The ICCM launched the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead in Paint as a voluntary partnership that is jointly led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN Environment (Unep) in order to protect human health and the environment.

The goal of the Lead Paint Alliance is to catalyse the efforts of diverse stakeholders to prevent exposure of children and to minimise occupational exposure to lead paint.

The overall objective is to establish legal limits and phase out lead in paint by the year 2020, and eventually eliminate associated risks. This undertaking is comparable to the previous joint international efforts that encouraged national regulatory actions to phase out leaded fuel.

It is for this reason that since 2013, the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action takes place annually on the last week of October to encourage governments to enforce national legal limits on lead in paint and to encourage industries to stop the manufacture and sale of lead paint.

It also raises awareness of the health and environmental risks posed by lead paint in the quest to prompt governments and manufacturers into stopping the production and sale of lead paints.

In Kenya, the issues of lead paint came into public limelight in 2013 with strong collaboration and participation of Lead Paint Alliance partners, policy makers, regulators, researchers, academia, diverse media, and consumer networks among other key stakeholders.

Paint manufacturing industries have been largely supportive and since then measurable levels of progress and commitments have been made towards establishing legal limits to phase out lead in all paints.

The Technical Committee of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) that includes local paint manufacturers recently developed a permissive limit of 90 parts per million (ppm) total lead content in paint.

Kenya now joins the rest of the world with this legal limit to regulate all paints. It also restricts the supply of leaded materials since Kenya is an open market economy and imports synthetic chemicals to manufacture paints.

Similar efforts have been directed towards harmonisation of the East African lead standard.

The EA draft standards are currently open for public review by Kebs within 60 days. The most effective way of phasing out lead in paint is by enforcing the established lead standards to ensure that consumers use lead-free paints.

This week, a series of activities, including a one-day Road Show, by the Department of Chemistry of the University of Nairobi in collaboration with the UN Environment and paint manufacturers will advocate lead-free paint in respect of the newly developed National Lead Paint Standards that require enforcement.

There will also be demonstration of how paints are analysed in the laboratory to determine levels of compliance.

Here then is an opportunity to demonstrate the commitment of various sectors towards phasing out of lead from our paints.

Dr Hussein-Were is a lecturer in the University of Nairobi’s Department of Chemistry and Member of Lead Paint Alliance Advisory Council. She also serves as the chairperson of Kebs technical committee. [email protected]