Lead Exposure

The Lead Issue and the U. S. Paint Industry

Lead exposure to the general population in the United States is actually an American health success story since it has been reduced to safe levels over the past generation for the vast majority, but lead exposure resulting in childhood lead poisoning remains one of our nation's most serious pediatric health priorities. This concern is not new to the U.S. paint and coatings industry, which voluntarily reduced its use of lead pigments in consumer paints over 50 years ago, according to a consensus standard endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This standard became the baseline for the federal law which led to the effective ban of lead added to consumer paints in 1978, a law actively supported by the paint industry. Like many other industries that used lead in their products, the paint industry found substitutes that were safe and effective. Why then are there continued legitimate public concerns?

The answer is found in a variety of often insidious causative sources such as old, deteriorated lead-based paint in housing, where HUD, EPA and state lead-safe protocols are not being followed by landlords. For example, lead contamination from old automobile exhaust deposits in soil; industrial lead soil deposits; lead in drinking water; homeopathic remedies among certain communities; and new sources of lead contamination in imported products. Statistics maintained by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and various state and local health departments, while showing the incidence of childhood lead poisoning nationwide has substantially declined, nevertheless affirm that the problem still persists.

For its part, the National Paint and Coatings Association and its members firmly support the CDC's Health People 2010 national goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning. NPCA believes that it is a health problem which can be eliminated altogether with the right attention, dedication of resources, and cooperation by public agencies with their private counterparts. The U. S. paint industry has considerable experience in formulating products without the use of lead compounds, something yet to be embraced universally by foreign manufacturers, and stands ready to reliably supply safe, lead-free, conforming coatings to meet emerging product safety standards. And to address the problem of childhood lead exposure from old, deteriorated paint in housing, NPCA and its members have a long history of cooperative and collaborative efforts including:

• Widespread distribution of key information brochures (English/Spanish) to hospitals, public health clinics and lead-poisoning prevention programs beginning in the early 1960's;

• Formation in the early 1990's of the Community Lead Education and Reduction Corps (CLEARCorps USA), an award-winning landmark private-public partnership now providing lead hazard reduction support services across the U.S.;

• Sponsorship of the four-year (2004-2007) voluntary cooperative National Lead-Safe Work Practices Training Program (English/Spanish), which trained 15,500 contractors, code officials, facility managers, landlords, homeowners, and childrens' health advocates on lead-safe work practices (using a HUD;EPA-approved protocol) at 640 tuition free courses in all 50 states and D.C., with over 85% receiving a course certification following a proficiency test;

• The "Next Generation" National Lead-Safe Work Practices Training Program, which launched in 2008, and is poised to continue training resources and to integrate the best management practices from national universities and public health programs that share a common goal... elimination of childhood lead poisoning by 2010;

• Over 600 million gallons of consumer paints labeled with a specified surface preparation statement to avoid hazards should old lead paint be involved, and providing the EPA Lead Information Hotline;

• Almost 5 million combined EPA brochures on lead safety for consumers, printed in English and Spanish, distributed on a regular basis, for counter display and distribution at tens of thousands of paint outlets throughout the United States; and

• Advocating state and local model legislation, building on existing model laws in states achieving the best results in the nation towards childhood lead poisoning elimination, which, among other successful provisions, incorporates incentives for those carrying specified duties of care (e.g., landlords) to fulfill them rigorously.

The content of this web site provides a perspective of the industry's interests and advancements in support of childhood lead poisoning prevention, but it is in no way the full story. For more information, please contact NPCA's Steve Sides or Tom Graves.