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The study ‘How safe is your paint?’, released by the environmental NGO Toxics Link, raises concerns on the availability of lead-containing paints across India and the lack of compliance with existing regulations in most cases.

No safe level of exposure to lead has so far been identified. When lead collects in the body, it can damage almost all organ systems and young children and pregnant women are at highest risk. It is mostly ingested by toddlers by licking doors and windows or eating dried paints.

Lead (Pb) is a toxic substance that poses serious risks to the environment besides human health and lead exposure has been identified by The World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top 10 environmental health threats globally.

“Lead in paints is one of the common sources of lead poisoning amongst children. Children are the most susceptible to lead poisoning as it can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system. So global efforts have been mooted by WHO and the United Nations Environment Programme to phase out lead from products, including paints,” says Piyush Mohapatra, Senior Programme Coordinator, Toxics Link.

In alignment with the global plan to eliminate lead from paints, the Government of India notified the Regulation on Lead Contents in Household and Decorative Paint Rules in 2016, which came into effect from November 1, 2017.

However, the study by Toxics Link found high lead content in most of the analysed samples.

For this study, 32 paint samples were purchased across the country from Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, and were analysed in an National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories-accredited laboratory (Spectro Analytical Labs, New Delhi).

The study found lead content of 10 ppm to 186062 ppm in the tested samples. The results of the study reveal that 90% of the analysed paint samples had lead levels above 90 ppm. Only 9% (3 paint samples) had lead levels below 90 ppm.

Incidentally, all paints were being manufactured locally, with a few samples being bought online.

Notably, paints containing high levels of lead (manufactured post notification of the lead in paint regulations) are still widely available across the country, which is in clear violation of the rules.

Further, as per the findings, most of the paint samples (84%) do not have any label as prescribed in the regulation. This is a clear violation of the rules and indicates lack of a robust monitoring system in place to check the availability of these unlabelled products in the market.

“In Delhi, the study tested two samples for the presence of lead and both of them had levels above 90 ppm with the highest level of lead being 15219 ppm,” says Tripti Arora, IPEN (International Pollutants Elimination Network) Coordinator, Toxics Link.

“The government needs to take concerted measures to reach out to these manufacturers. A diligent monitoring regime needs to be put in place by the concerned authorities to completely eradicate lead from household paints,” says Satish Sinha, Associate Director, Toxics Link.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

• 90% of the analysed paint samples contained lead levels of above 90 ppm.
• Lead content was found to be between 10 ppm to 186062 ppm in analysed samples.
• The lowest lead content (10 ppm) was observed in a coloured sample collected from Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• Highest lead concentration of 186062 ppm was found in a golden yellow coloured paint from Tamil Nadu.
• Lead content was found to be 4306 PPM in the sample collected from the e-tailer, Amazon.