11 de agosto de 2009 11:53 

Excess lead in the Brazilian decorative paints

ZULEICA NYCZ

Several brands of decorative paints sold in Brazil contain high levels of lead, a toxic metal for the environment and the human health, according to a study which analyzed paints from ten countries. The analyses evidenced that this dangerous metal – Lead - continues to be widely used as a pigment and as a drying agent in the decorative paints sold not only here but in other developing countries.

Said study was coordinated by Toxics Link, an Indian organization focused on raising the level of awareness of the population about the risks of exposure to toxic chemicals, with the support of IPEN (International POPs Elimination Network).

APROMAC – Environment Protection Association, from the State of Paraná, participated in the study and collected samples of several brands and colors of paints sold in Brazil. The English version of the final report with the laboratory analysis results of the Brazilian paints, to be launched in the next days, shows some Brazilian brands which contain lead and how much of it.

According to the report, many Brazilian samples denoted levels of lead exceeding 600 parts per million (ppm), the maximum limit allowed by Law no. 11.762/2008. The enamel paint (yellow) made by Renner was the sample with the highest level of lead in its composition: more than 170,000 ppm of lead, almost 300 times above the allowed limit. The enamel samples (red) of the Suvinil and Dacar brands contained respectively 20,957 ppm and 19,080 ppm of lead, and the Suvinil yellow enamel of Suvinil and the Dacar orange enamel contained 66,125 ppm and 60,713 ppm, respectively. On the other hand, the Coral brand samples (Coralit) and the Sherwin Williams (Novacor) samples had a lead content ranging from 53 and 0 (zero) ppm. [See the Tables of Samples below]

All samples were analyzed by the Delhi Test House, a laboratory accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), in compliance with the Standard Operating Procedures for Lead in Paint, EPA, PB92-114172, Sept. 1991; SW846-740 (US EPA, 2001).

The Brazilian legislation that establishes restrictions to the lead presence in the paints is limited to the recently enacted Law no. 11.762 of August 1st 2008, which determined the maximum lead content allowed for decorative paints and paints for children and schools, as well as varnishes and similar surface coating materials traded in Brazil.

In Brazil, the restriction shall be valid within one year after the date of publication of that Law. The country has no other legislation to rule the lead content limit in other types of paints, as for example, for graphic use and industrial paints, although there is sufficient technology available to replace the use of lead in the paints manufacture processes.

The control of this source of contamination calls for an integrated effort by the governmental authorities in order to ban lead in paints by approving legal provisions, putting in place rigorous inspection methods and consistent programs to raise the awareness of importers, producers, workers, consumers and the public in general.

The contamination by lead may cause occupational health problems at the paint manufacturing plants, and afterwards when these products are applied on different surfaces, exposing the users to the perils of metal inhalation. This substance is also released into the environment when the paint is sanded and scrapped during repainting and remodeling services. Also, when the paint crumbles due to the normal wear, or is scrubbed by opening and closing doors or windows. In such cases a thin dust is formed and may lodge in the human or animal organism by inhalation and also be deposited on the ground or in the water. Another Indian study detected high levels of this toxic metal in the ground around houses in Nova Deli, an evidence of the fact that lead dust from paints is easily spread and contaminates areas around the building that is being repaired. The main victims of contamination are women and children who stay longer inside the houses, schools, hospitals and child care facilities. Children are especially vulnerable since they may pick up pieces of paint from the ground and put into the mouth, absorbing very high quantities of lead in relation to their weight.

The Brazilian law is now in force, but the maximum limit established by the Brazilian law (600 ppm) has been considered too high by environmentalists, scientists and governments in many parts of the world. Said law was passed without having been discussed with professionals and scientists of the environment and health area, or even with workers in the area, who could have contributed with updated technical information and thus obtained more restrictive limits. Some more advanced studies show that lead causes adverse effects to the health even when in very small quantities in the human organism. The United States, which started to apply the limit of 600 ppm as of 1978, recognized the scientific discoveries and medical recommendations and decided to establish the limit of 90 ppm for lead in paints, a limit that will be in force in August 2009.

In the last years an international movement by environmental health defense groups around the world is growing to ban the intentional use of lead in products. One major concern of these groups is the countries which are not adopting rigorous and restrictive measures regarding these products and will become receptors of stocks of contaminated products coming from countries where they cannot be sold anymore. An undesirable consequence would be an avalanche of paints, toys and other children’s products with high level of lead banned by more restrictive countries and exported to those countries with a more lenient legislation.

The flexibility of the legislation, the fragility of the public health system to deal with chemical poisoning of populations, the lack of structure of authorities responsible for environmental monitoring and the non-existence of public programs to raise the consumers´ awareness increase the vulnerability of the internal market in relation to imports of contaminated products banned in other countries.

During three days telephone calls were made to the office of IBAMA Environmental Quality Director, Sandra Regina Klosovski, to inform what will be the penalties determined by that agency and the measures that the IBAMA inspection department will adopt to ensure that the Law is complied with, but she didn’t call back to inform.

The Executive-Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Izabella Teixeira, was also called to inform about the Ministry actions scheduled for the enforcement of the law, but she didn’t answer either.

The Environment Surveillance Coordination of the Ministry of Health informed that they don’t have plans of action regarding the enforcement of Law No. 11.762 and that the authority responsible for the monitoring would be the Ministry of Environment.

The Law was signed by the Brazilian President, and also by the Minister of Environment Carlos Minc, the Minister of Health José Gomes Temporão, and the Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Miguel Jorge.

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Lead and Health

Lead is a toxic metal which accumulates in the organism where it may stay during years causing damages to the health. This happens because many symptoms of intoxication may be mistaken for the symptoms of other diseases and the only way for a person to know if is contaminated is through special tests. Small children and pregnant women are the most vulnerable groups. The lead enters the organism of the pregnant women through inhalation or ingestion and may be deposited in the bones, from where it passes to the blood and cross the placenta barrier reaching the foetus. The babies may have their body load of lead increased by the mother’s milk. It is proved that the lead causes irreparable damages to foetus´ and babies´ development. Adults also suffer from the contamination effects: nausea, sleep disturbances, abdominal pains, lack of motor coordination, lack of appetite, liver damages, anemia, nervous system disturbances, hyperactivity, mental confusion, loss of memory and cerebral damages. In more severe cases, lead poisoning may cause death.

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Outdated Brazilian legislation

While Brazil slowly starts to deal with the lead problem in a small range of paints applications, many countries are making efforts to establish more strict legislations. This is the case of the USA, which since 1978 restricted the maximum allowed limit of lead in the wall paints to 600 ppm, and decreased this limit to 90 ppm as of August 2009. The advances of the scientific researches are showing clearly that there is no safe limit to the human exposure to lead, pushing the authorities to ban the use of lead in paints and any other intentional contaminating source.

Following this recommendation, the North-American environment authorities have launched programs to give information and technical assistance to the population regarding the repainting and repairs of paint made before 1978, the year when the maximum limit of 600 ppm became mandatory. To guide the public, the EPA (USA environment agency) created a program to raise awareness of the risks of remodeling in buildings painted before that year, providing an official accreditation system of risk assessors, inspectors and professionals trained to provide safe services. The program made available a telephone number, an Internet site with useful information, leaflets, posters and booklets to inform the population about the risks to the health in case of remaking old paintings, how to make safe repairs and how to find and contract professionals accredited by EPA, how to take care of children in these environments, the most common symptoms of lead contamination, and how to proceed in case of poisoning. The campaign is focused on protecting the children’s and women’s health, informing adults in general about the risks mainly in houses, schools, children care facilities and hospitals.

If it is very good for the USA’s citizens, it is bad for the developing countries with legislation less restrictive, as Brazil, which can become easy preys for paints and other above-90 ppm lead-containing products exporters.

Lead concentration (ppm & %) in paint samples in Brazil

Sample No.	trademark	Paint type -Plastic/Enamel	Paint color	Pb Lead concentration (Pb) (ppm)	Lead concentration (Pb) (%)
BRZ 01	DACAR	Plastic	Green	0.6	0
BRZ 02	DACAR	Plastic	Blue	6.8	0.00068
BRZ 03	Coral/Coralamine	Plastic	Yellow	12.4	0.00124
BRZ 04	Coral / Coralamine	Plastic	Green	13.6	0.00136
BRZ 05	Suvinil	Plastic	Blue	13.4	0.00134
BRZ 06	Suvinil	Plastic	Orange	14.4	0.00144
BRZ 07	Suvinil	Plastic	Red	7.5	0.00075
BRZ 08	Sherwin Williams Novacor	Enamel	Yellow	53	0.0053
BRZ 09	Sherwin Williams Novacor	Enamel	Red	16.4	0.00164
BRZ 10	Sherwin Williams Novacor	Enamel	Blue	22	0.0022
BRZ 11	Sherwin Williams Novacor	Enamel	Black	9.5	0.00095
BRZ 12	Renner	Enamel	Red	5633.2	0.56332
BRZ 13	Renner	Enamel	Blue	12.4	0.00124
BRZ 14	Renner	Enamel	Yellow	170258.4	17.02584
BRZ 15	Dacar	Enamel	White	26.3	0.00263
BRZ 16	Dacar	Enamel	Green	7665.5	0.76655
BRZ 17	Dacar	Enamel	Black	24.7	0.00247
BRZ 18	Dacar	Enamel	Red	19080.6	1.90806
BRZ 19	Dacar	Enamel	Blue	573.2	0.05732
BRZ 20	Dacar	Enamel	Orange	60713.1	6.07131
BRZ 21	Suvinil	Enamel	Red	20957.1	2.09571
BRZ 22	Suvinil	Enamel	Yellow	66125.7	6.61257
BRZ 23	Suvinil	Enamel	White	55.4	0.00554
BRZ 24	Suvinil	Enamel	Black	4.3	0.00043
BRZ 25	Coral – Coralit	Enamel	Yellow	9.6	0.00096
BRZ 26	Coral – Coralit	Enamel	Green	5.9	0.00059
BRZ 27	Coral – Coralit	Enamel	Black	0.6	0.00006
BRZ 28	Coral – Coralit	Enamel	Red	8.2	0.00082
BRZ 29	Renner	Enamel	Green	11.9	0.00119
BRZ 30	3RM	Enamel	Black	4935.5	0.49355
BRZ 31	3RM	Enamel	White	3896.1	0.38961

Source: Toxics Link

Statistic Measurements of Brazilian paint samples

	All samples	Enamel Samples	Samples - Plastic
Arythmetic Mean	11618.3	15004.1	9.8
Standard Deviation	33563.7	37635.1	5.1
Maximum concentration	170258.4	170258.4	14.4
Minimal concentrations median	0.6	0.6	0.6
Median	16.4	39.6	12.4

Source: Toxics Link

Table 44. Distribution of Paint Samples containing more than 90/600 pm Lead

	Number of Samples	Number of Samples containing a lead concentration over 90 ppm	Number of Samples containing a lead concentration over 600 ppm
Enamel Paint Samples	24	10 (41.7 %)	9 (37.5%)
Plastic Paint Samples	7	0	0
All Samples	31	10 (32.2%)	9 (28.1%)

Source: Toxics Link

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Zuleica Nycz is a former councilor of the Brazilian National Environment Council (CONAMA) and represents the civil society in the National Commission of Chemical Safety (CONASQ).

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