Lead levels in new enamel household paints from Asia, Africa and South America

In 2006 a report on the analysis for lead in 80 new residential paints from four countries in Asia revealed high levels in three of the countries (China, India and Malaysia) and low levels in a fourth country (Singapore) where a lead in paint regulation was enforced. Read more

The lead content of currently available new residential paint in several Asian countries

Worldwide prohibitions on lead gasoline additives were a major international public health accomplishment, the results of which are still being documented in parts of the world. Although the need to remove lead from paints has been recognized for over a century, evidence reported in this article indicates that lead-based paints for household use, some containing more than 10% lead, are readily available for purchase in some of the largest countries in the world. Read more

Toxic fun

30 percent of  toys gathered in different Philippine’s toys stores and tested by EcoWaste Coalition and International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) were positive “for at least one toxic metal above levels of concern,” with 60 of them containing one of a group of dangerous chemicals that are known to be poisonous: antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead or mercury. Read more