EcoWaste Coalition Raises the Alarm on 20 Imported Paints with Lead Content ahead of 2025 ILPPW

Quezon City- In its latest effort to promote strict adherence to the national lead paint ban, the EcoWaste Coalition disclosed that the 20 spray paint samples it submitted to a private laboratory for confirmatory tests were verified as lead paints that would be illegal to import, distribute and sell in the Philippines.

The group made the disclosure ahead of the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (ILPPW) on October 19 to 25 to emphasize the obvious need to fix enforcement gaps that have allowed lead paints from abroad to penetrate the local market.

Lead paints refer to paints and other similar surface coatings containing lead compounds greater than 90 parts per million (ppm), which have been added to give the product its color, make it dry faster or inhibit rusting, or which may be present as a contaminant in the ingredients used in making it.

The 20 paints, mostly marked made in China or Thailand, were all found laden with lead above 90 ppm of which 12 contained lead higher than 10,000 ppm.  A counterfeit yellow Bosny Spray that claims to be made in Thailand topped the list with 116,000 ppm of lead.

Also found with extremely high concentrations of lead were Easyman Spray Paint All Purpose Enamel with 78,600 ppm (green), 87,700 ppm (orange) and 95,500 ppm (yellow); JM Spray Paint with 89,900 ppm (medium yellow); Standard JR Spray Paint with 79,800 ppm; and JMJAFA Spray Paint with 67,900 ppm (Jialing red) of lead.

Of the 20 analyzed paints with lead, 13 paints representing three brands (counterfeit Bosny Spray Paint, Easyman Spray Paint All Purpose Enamel and Standard JR Spray Paint) carried the “No Pb” pictogram.

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Contrary to expectation, the 13 paints marked “No Pb” (Pb is the chemical symbol for lead from the Latin word plumbum) contained outrageous levels of lead, including five with lead in excess of 50,000 ppm.

Last August 2025, the EcoWaste Coalition also announced the detection of violative levels of lead in 27 imported spray paints as per laboratory analyses.

The non-compliant paints were not produced, imported or distributed by companies belonging to the Philippine Paint & Coatings Association, Inc. (PPCAI), a partner of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint, together with the Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc., Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) and the EcoWaste Coalition.

DENR Administrative Order 2013-24, or the Chemical Control Order for Lead and Lead Compounds, established a 90 ppm limit for lead in all paints and provided for a three-year phase-out period for lead-containing decorative paints and a longer six-year phase-out period for lead-containing industrial paints, which ended on December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2019, respectively.

During the ILPPW, the EcoWaste Coalition will release the latest version of the Public Notice on Lead-Containing Paints that it has co-published with PPCAI and IPEN to alert and guide consumers in making informed purchasing decisions.

The theme for this year’s ILPPW “No safe level: Act now to end lead exposure” is a reminder of the unacceptable risks of lead exposure and the need for action to protect the vulnerable populations, the children in particular.

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Reference:

https://chemical.emb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DAO-2013-24-CCO-Lead.pdf
https://www.who.int/campaigns/international-lead-poisoning-prevention-week/2025