FAQ - Questions and Answers about Lead Paint ...

In the process of developing a law to address lead paint, many stakeholders – including government representatives, industry, and civil society organizations – find that they have questions about specific aspects of this work. To address these questions, the Lead Paint Alliance has developed these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to provide answers on a wide range of relevant topics. The questions are organized by category, to assist you in finding the questions and answers most relevant to you, including Lead in Paint Basics,  About the Lead Paint Alliance,  Model Law and Guidance for Regulating Lead Paint,  Health, Environmental and Economic Impacts of Lead Exposure,  Setting Legal Limits on Lead Content in Paint,  Using Non-lead Alternatives in Paint,  Addressing Cost of Reformulating Paint,  Ensuring Compliance, Timing of Lead Paint Phase-out,  Paint Testing and  Addressing Disposal of Lead Paint. These FAQs are intended to provide guidance supported by available technical information and are reviewed and updated by the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint as additional relevant information becomes available.  Input is always welcome.

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15. Should lead paint laws address toys bearing lead paint?

Lead paint on toy surfaces can pose significant health risks to children. This is also the case for lead paint on other children’s products, such as cribs... Including lead limits on children’s products in a lead paint law would provide consistent standards and protect public health but would affect a different set of products and manufacturers than a paint limit, which would raise issues not addressed in the Model Law.  One option some countries might consider would be to enact a law that establishes a legal limit on lead in paint and in the same law also provides authority to set protective lead limits for children’s products through subsequent regulations or standards.

16. What should we do about paint that has already been applied in homes? 

The Model Law is prospective, providing sample legal text and guidance for laws prohibiting the manufacture and import of paints exceeding the lead limit. Such laws prevent future contamination and exposure by eliminating lead paint from the marketplace before it is applied to walls and surfaces. The Model Law does not address lead paint applied in the past, also known as “legacy paint,” as the mechanisms for addressing legacy paint are different and complex.

Activities such as renovation that can disturb legacy paint can result in harmful exposures to lead.  Older homes have higher concentrations of lead in dust than newer homes.  (WHO Technical Brief, 2020 at p. 16). The earlier a country enacts a lead paint law to prevent new manufacture and import of lead paint the less “legacy paint” will be present on structures in the country. 

Some governments have programs to address legacy paint. For example, information on addressing legacy lead paint in the United States is available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/steps.pdf and https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/sbcomplianceguide.pdf.

Using Non-lead Alternatives in Paint

17. Are non-lead alternative ingredients available? 

Non-leaded pigments, dryers, and anti-corrosives are widely available, and are used by many manufacturers to produce paints that meet the same specifications as the lead paint, making use of lead in paint unnecessary, particularly for decorative uses. As a result, major paint companies have switched to lead-free paint ingredients.

18. What help is available for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to shift to non-lead alternatives?

In addition to helping countries with laws, the Lead Paint Alliance is also working to identify and help address obstacles faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in replacing lead additives in paint with non-lead alternatives. These obstacles include lack of access to suppliers of lead-free additives and capacity to reformulate paint. The Alliance, through a project supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and led by the National Clean Production Center of Serbia, is working with SMEs on pilot demonstrations for paint reformulation at their own cost in seven countries with National Cleaner Production Centers in Jordan, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and China and through IPEN in Indonesia and Nigeria. UNEP has developed draft reformulation guidance for SMEs, which is expected to be finalized in 2020.

Addressing Costs of Reformulating Paint

19. Is there a cost to manufacturers for reformulating paint?

There is typically a one-time cost for the research and development to reformulate paint, which need not be passed on to the consumers. In addition, some of the non-lead additives are more expensive but the amounts needed may be smaller making the cost of the finished product comparable. The long-term economic benefits of protecting children from lead exposure far outweigh the costs of reformulation.

20. Will consumers pay more for paint that has no added lead?

The cost to consumers of paint without added lead need not be higher than paint with lead additives. Data from the Asian market show that lead content is not necessarily a predictor of the retail cost of paints. For more information, see the Lead Paint Alliance Regulatory Toolkit module on lead additive alternatives and costs. Also, while consumers consider price, they also look for safe products.

21. Will small and medium enterprises (SMEs) be able to reformulate paint?

The Lead Paint Reformulation Technical Guidelines and its summary document Reformulation Technical Guidelines and How to Use this Information (both available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) provide a comprehensive starting point for all stakeholders to learn more about paint reformulation and best practices.

Many SMEs have already successfully reformulated their paint to remove lead. Paint manufacturers, including SMEs, will need to reformulate and test their paint to ensure that they meet a low legal limit for lead in paint. The Alliance is conducting pilot demonstration projects in a few countries and a small number of SMEs to showcase solutions and to develop reformulation guidance for use by SMEs globally. A draft of this guidance is available at (see: Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, Demonstration pilots with paint manufacturers in SMEs executed in eight countries.)

In addition, paint testing in developing countries shows that many paints are below 90 ppm lead limit and only a few are between the 90 and 600 ppm limit which suggests that SMEs can achieve this limit. To view this data, please see IPEN, Lead Levels in Paint Around the World.  For more information, see the Lead Paint Alliance Regulatory Toolkit modules on lead additive alternatives and costs, and barriers to SMEs. 

Ensuring Compliance

The Lead Paint Law Compliance and Enforcement Guidance provides countries with guidance for the development and implementation of compliance and enforcement strategies for lead paint laws. The Guidance describes key elements of compliance and enforcement strategies for government officials and provides examples, including from countries that have enacted lead paint laws. The Guidance also provides examples of action paint manufacturers and importers can take to demonstrate compliance.

22. How can countries avoid unnecessary burdens on the paint industry?

Countries can avoid unnecessarily burdening industry by enacting provisions such as those in the Model Law. The sample legal text provisions in the Model Law were developed with consideration to the impact of testing requirements on manufacturers and provides for flexible approaches that reduce costs. For example, lead limits can be phased in over time, allowing manufacturers time to reformulate their products.  Reformulating paint to reduce total lead content will contribute to preventing the enormous costs to society of lead exposure which far outweigh the costs to industry of reformulation.

23. What are the compliance tools in the Model Law?

The Model Law includes sample legal text for the following tools to promote compliance:

1. Requiring manufacturers and importers to have paint tested for lead content by third-party accredited laboratories using internationally recognized test methods;
2. Requiring manufacturers and importers to provide a declaration of conformity based on such testing;
3. Identifying the government agency with enforcement authority, enumerate enforcement responsibilities, including authorizing government inspections, testing, and seizure, and
4. Making the following activities “prohibited acts” subject to penalties:

• manufacturing, selling, distributing or importing paint that exceeds the legal limit,
• failing to cooperate with government inspections,
• failing to provide declarations of conformity or providing false declarations, and
• attempting to influence a third-party laboratory’s test results.

24. What is a declaration of conformity and how does it work?

The Model Law includes sample legal text for use of declarations of conformity to document compliance with a lead paint law.  These provisions would require manufacturers and importers to provide a declaration that their paints comply with the limit on lead in paint to distributors, retailers, and upon request, to governments. 

25. Does the declaration of conformity have to be notarized? 

No, the declaration of Conformity does not need to be notarized; it needs to be signed by a responsible representative of the issuing company. To ensure that declarations of conformity are accurate, the Model Law includes sample legal text for including  submitting a false declaration in the prohibited acts section.

26. Enforcement can be challenging. How do we ensure enforcement? 

The regulatory agency must work with customs officials to ensure paint imports are accompanied by proper documentation. The Model Law includes sample legal text for a provision for governments to inspect paint to ensure that it complies with the total lead limit. Such spot checks, backed by enforcement actions where appropriate, should  help ensure that companies do not rely on inaccurate documentation.

27. How can enforcement officials deal with lead paint imports?

The Model Law includes sample legal text for provisions for establishing a compliance assurance mechanism that is low-cost and efficient for industry to implement and for governments to enforce. Each paint manufacturer and importer would be responsible for Declarations of Conformity, backed by third-party testing at an accredited laboratory certified in accordance with international standards. Additional provisions from the Model Law would provide governments authority to inspect facilities and test paint to ensure reliability of the declarations. 

Timing of Lead Paint Phase-out

28. Can lead paint limits be phased in over time?

To be effective, lead paint laws must provide clear deadlines for compliance by manufacturers and importers to phase-out lead paint. These deadlines should allow reasonable time for manufacturers to alter paint formulations and production processes. For examples, some countries allow 1 year from the effective date of legislation before compliance becomes mandatory for household paints, and a longer phase-in, such as 2-3 years, for industrial paints. Sample text for provisions reflecting both of these  options are included in the Model Law. 

29. Can retailers continue to sell lead paint after manufacture and import of paint containing above 90 ppm lead is illegal? 

The Model Law does not include a provision to allow sale of paint that exceeds 90 ppm once manufacture and import become illegal. Immediate enforcement against retail sales of existing stocks that were created or imported legally before the deadline might not be realistic in all contexts. Countries may wish to consider including an “existing stocks” provision in their lead paint laws, which could allow continued sales of paint produced before the deadline for stopping manufacture and import and could include an outer time limit. Some lead paint stocks may ultimately need to be disposed of, subject to applicable disposal requirements.

Paint Testing

30. What are the Model Law testing requirements for manufacturers and importers?

The Model Law includes sample text for provisions that would require manufacturers and importers to submit sufficient samples of the first production batch or lot of paint to a third-party laboratory accredited under international standards for testing for compliance with the 90 ppm lead limit.  Manufacturers and importers would rely on these tests to issue their declarations of conformity. The Model Law provides a list of internationally recognized testing methods, such as ISO and ASTM methods (see Appendix II of the Model Law). The Model Law recognizes that test methods may change or improve over time and, thus, the Appendix II list is not intended to be exhaustive.  Additional information on testing is available in A Brief Guide to Analytical Methods for Measuring Lead in Paint (WHO, 2020).

31. What are some of the existing lead paint testing methods?

The WHO Brief Guide to Analytical Methods for Measuring Lead in Paints lists well-established analytical methods for measuring the lead content of paint and briefly describes these methods. It also highlights, for various types of applications and scenarios, the considerations when deciding whether to use a laboratory-based method or portable technology, and whether to establish a laboratory service for lead measurement or to buy in services from another laboratory. The booklet is be available in additional six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish).

32. How many different paints does a manufacturer have to submit for testing?

The Model Law includes sample legal text for provisions to require manufacturers and importers to submit sufficient samples of a paint product’s first production batch or lot for third-party laboratory testing. Testing the first production batch or lot will be sufficient to meet the testing requirement unless a material change occurs in the production process for that paint product – such as a change in ingredients or a change in an ingredient supplier. The Model Law includes provisions that, in the event of a material change in the production process, would require laboratory testing to be conducted on paint produced through the new process and a declaration of conformity to be issued for that paint. In order to ensure that testing is not unduly burdensome and duplicative, importers may be allowed to rely on a foreign manufacturer’s test results to issue a declaration of conformity, as long as the importer exercises due care to ensure that the manufacturer’s test results meet the requirements of the law, and the importer maintains appropriate records of the test methodology and results.

33. How can a country make sure the testing requirements are not overly burdensome and expensive?

The Model Law includes sample legal text for provisions to require testing by an accredited third-party laboratory. A government could choose to supplement a basic testing requirement like this with additional provisions or guidance that may help lower the cost of testing. Two examples from US regulations are discussed below: “component part testing” and “composite testing.”

34. What is component part testing?

“Component part testing” is an option for a company to obtain third-party testing for each ingredient used in finished paint products, rather than for each finished paint product (for example, each variant of color or shine). The following is an excerpt from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website:

“Component part testing is allowed for the base constituents of paints, which can be considered component parts. For example, assume 10 base color constituents, plus a binder, are mixed in varying quantities to create a variety of paint colors. If each base color constituent and the binder are individually tested and found compliant with the lead in paint limit, then any combination of base color constituents and binder would also be compliant, and the mixed paint does not also require additional testing.”

A company using component part testing would need to provide a declaration of conformity for each paint color and other base constituent rather than having to test the final paint product. 

35. What is composite testing?

“Composite testing” (combining certain samples into one sample) entails combining different color paints from one or more samples to reduce the number of samples being tested. The paint company would still need to provide a declaration of conformity for each paint product using the results of the composite testing. When using this testing strategy, strict guidelines need to be followed to make sure that the lead concentration of each component is low enough that the composite testing provides a representative measure of lead content for each paint that is part of the composite sample. If the composite test exceeds the lead limit, then follow-up testing of each component paint would need to be conducted separately. Details of this testing strategy can be found in the U.S. CPSC publication: “Standard Operating Procedure for Determining Lead (Pb) in Paint and Other Similar Surface Coatings” (CPSC-CH-E1003-09.1).

36. How can we get accredited laboratories in our country? 

Each country does not need to have its own laboratory to conduct accredited, third-party testing. Current lack of in-country laboratory capacity need not be an impediment to implementation of a lead paint law, as manufacturers and importers can still comply with the law by sending paint samples for testing to accredited, third-party laboratories in other countries or relying on testing provided by the raw material suppliers. Countries can encourage laboratories to acquire the necessary equipment, expertise and accreditation for  testing lead paint.

37. Do government inspectors testing for compliance with the law have to use third-party laboratories?

No. The Model Law includes sample legal text for provisions authorizing government inspectors to inspect and test paint to assess compliance with the lead limit in “a reasonable manner.” Generally, the lead content in liquid paint can be measured in a laboratory using laboratory methods or in the field using portable devices.

The usual method to sample the paint is to apply a thin layer of paint to a non-metal, homogenous surface, such as a glass slide or flat, smooth piece of wood and allow it to dry. Government inspectors can send samples to a laboratory, where the paint is scraped off, prepared and analyzed. Alternatively, government inspectors can analyze samples in the field using a portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer (see ASTM F2853-10(2015)). HDXRF analyzers are also able to measure lead concentration in liquid samples of new paint using a manufacturer-supplied sample cup. Information on these techniques is provided in the WHO publication Brief Guide to Analytical Methods for Measuring Lead in Paint, 2nd edition.

In addition, many manufacturers operate in-house laboratories that can perform follow-up testing following internationally recognized test methods. Such testing may be useful in providing additional assurance of conformity.

Addressing Disposal of Lead Paint

38. How should lead paint disposed of?

Under the law in some countries, lead paint is considered hazardous waste once it can no longer be manufactured or sold. In order to protect health and the environment, it is important that countries ensure that their legal frameworks provide for management and disposal in an environmentally sound manner.

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