High levels of lead in paints harmful to humans
A report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has revealed that some household paints manufactured in the country contain high levels of lead, which is harmful to humans—especially children and pregnant women.
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The report, which was made available by Ecological Restorations, a non-governmental organisation, said many paints sold in Ghana for household use contained lead—a toxic metal—and would not be allowed for sale in the European Union, the United States of America (USA) or other highly industrial countries.
Lead ingested by humans, especially children, could cause damage to their intelligence and mental development, even when there are no obvious clinical signs of lead poisoning.
The study, “Lead in enamel decorative paints,” analysed paints from other countries, namely Argentina, Azerbaijan, Chile, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia and Uruguay.
According to the report, the findings in Ghana were similar to those of other countries in the study that had not yet enacted a national law or binding decree to control the lead content of paints that were manufactured, imported, sold and used in the country.
The study and report was co-ordinated by the International Persistent Organic Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), a global network of health and environmental NGOs that has collected and analysed decorative paints for sale on the market.
The Executive Director of Ecological Restoration, Mr Emmanuel Odjam-Akumatey, who introduced the report to the media in Accra, said: “Exposure to even small amounts of lead can reduce a child’s intelligence and school performance and could also cause behavioural problems.”
Lead in household paints has been regulated in most highly industrial countries for more than 40 years and the USA and Canada recently established a regulatory limit of 90 parts per million (ppm) lead in response to growing concerns that even low-level lead exposures were harmful to children.
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Findings
Out of 18 cans of enamel decorative local paints from eight brands tested in Ghana, three had lead concentrations greater than 10,000 ppm; five others had concentrations greater than 600 ppm and six others also had lead concentrations greater than 90 ppm.
According to the report, the paint sampled with the greatest lead content had as much as 42,000 ppm.
Three different colours of paints were tested—white, red and yellow.
The highest average concentration was found in the yellow paints which had 9,780 ppm. The red paint had 5,520 ppm with the white paint having the lowest lead concentration of 27 ppm.
According to the UNEP, lead in paints is a problem because painted surfaces deteriorate with time while children ingest lead from dusts and soils during normal hand-to-mouth behaviour.
Daily Graphic/Ghana