EcoWaste Coalition Finds Colorful Tumblers Coated with Lead Paints Sold on the Streets

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The watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition has raised the alarm over the sale of hot and cold insulated steel tumblers that are coated with paints containing lead, which is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.

In time for the opening of school classes, the group bought new tumblers mostly from street vendors in Binondo and Quiapo, Manila for P120 to 190 each, and had them checked for lead content using an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer, a portable device that can quickly identify and analyze the elements of a sample.

According to the XRF screening, the paints used on the exteriors of 11 unbranded tumblers were lead paints, or paints containing lead above the legal limit of 90 parts per million (ppm).  The lead levels found on the 11 tumblers violated the country’s lead paint ban, the EcoWaste Coalition pointed out.   

A plain yellow painted tumbler (600 mL) was found to contain 61,850 ppm of lead, while the yellow (800 mL), orange, apple green, rust orange, army green, red, light green, and cream painted tumblers had 47,270 ppm,  37,160 ppm, 31, 720 ppm, 19,230 ppm, 5,580 ppm, 5,570 ppm, 2,416 ppm and 1,532 ppm, respectively.

Additionally, two other tumblers were found to contain lead: a red tumbler with a Car cartoon character has 4,500 ppm lead, and a pink tumbler with a Hello Kitty design has 1,087 ppm lead.

Under the DENR-issued chemical control order (CCO) for lead and its compounds, lead is prohibited in the production of paints and other specific products such as school supplies and toys.  As directed by the CCO, lead-containing paints were phased out from 2013-2016 for decorative applications and 2013-2019 for industrial applications.

The EcoWaste Coalition has time and again warned that the lead-containing paints coated onto the exterior surfaces of some tumblers pose lead exposure risks, especially to young children who are not aware of the risks.

The lead-containing paints on the tumbler will degenerate, flake and chip off  with frequent use, and the lead on the paint may end up being ingested by the user, the group warned.

According to the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future: “Children are exceptionally vulnerable to the harmful effects of lead poisoning, as their rapidly developing brains and bodies absorb lead at rates four to five times higher than adults. Even the lowest levels of lead in the bloodstream can cause irreversible damage. Lead exposure can cause serious health consequences, including neurological damage, reduced IQ, attention deficits, and behavioral problems. Even low blood lead levels have been linked to cognitive decline in children.”

As pointed out by the World Health Organization (WHO), “there is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.”

With its discovery of more tumblers in violation of the lead paint ban, the EcoWaste Coalition again called on the national government to pinpoint the agency in charge of regulating lead in consumer products such as tumblers, including their removal from the marketplace.

The group has been exposing the uncontrolled sale of stainless steel tumblers with painted exteriors containing high lead levels as part of its vigilant campaign to ensure the effective enforcement of the lead paint ban for children’s health and safety, and for a zero waste and toxics-free future.