Time to Ban Lead in Industrial Paints and Coatings

In the U.S. and most high-income countries, regulations already restrict the use of lead paint for residential applications. However, few countries have enacted comprehensive bans on the use of lead additives in all paints. In 2009, more than 120 countries at the UN International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM) voted to phase-out all lead paints (1). Since then, a few countries including the Philippines andNepal have enacted regulations to eliminate the use of lead additives in both consumer and “industrial” paints, but most countries have no restrictions on the manufacture or use of lead in any type of paint (2). The hazards of lead paint have been known since at least the 1800s and even the recommended alternatives to lead pigments advocated in that era are still used in making paints today (3). Yet, the debate on banning lead paint still rages in capitols from Dhaka to Brussels despite overwhelming evidence that workers and children are harmed from lead exposures resulting from these applications. In the European Union (EU), a fight is currently under way over a petition to exempt Lead Chromate pigments from the registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals (REACH) regulations. It is an unusual battle that has pitted the world’s largest lead pigment manufacturer, the Canadian-basedDominionColour Corporation, against some European industry associations andAkzoNobel, the world’s largest paintmanufacturer, which eliminated the use of lead in all their products in 2011 (4, 5). Although in many countries, architectural/decorative paints still contain significant concentrations of lead, “industrial” paints generally have lead concentrations that are up to 10 times greater. For example, road marking paints can contain up to 20,000 ppm lead (6). However, there are well known substitutes for lead additives in all types of paints and coatings used for all applications. Despite the availability of substitutes, multi-national paint companies often sell lead-free coatings in some markets while they continue to market lead-containing products in jurisdictions where there are no regulatory constraints and customers are less aware of the hazards. In the U.S., efforts to regulate the lead content of paints initially focused on decorative/architectural paints and consumer products. Subsequently, large paint purchasers in the U.S. had begun to assess the costs of safely maintaining and eventual demolishing industrial structures, bridges, ships, and roadways with lead paint and elected to require lead-free paint and coatings in project and product specifications.