Lead-free paint awareness is unfortunately low, despite its importance. Even low blood lead concentrations can lead to decreased intelligence in children, behavioral difficulties, and learning problems. The World Health Organization states that there is no known safe blood lead concentration. 1

In 2017 I wrote about the home we were planning to move in one day and why I was researching paint colours.I wanted lead-free paint and when finally in 2023 the work was finished, Nerolac was still the best option. Incidentally, interior paints in India were supposed to have a maximum of 90ppm lead since 2016 but that brings a self-certification the problem is still persistent. Plus industrial lead-free paint was not a necessity and the continuous leaching of lead in soil, air water continues at multiple levels. Its also very difficult to find which paint is lead-free!

Kansai Nerolac is a Japanese company which is much before its time. It has no added lead in its paint according to the information available publicly. When you invest in lead-free paint today, you ensure protection for the people who live in it, and the people who breathe in it, and one day if you want to repaint, less pollution while scraping off the paint. In the long run, it’s a win-win for you and nature. The smell which accompanies the fresh paint is when you inhale the maximum amount of lead. When paint flakes of , that’s a problem too.

There’s a distinctly lower IQ, leading to an overall loss of lifetime earnings plus the cost of potential healthcare impact has a significant impact on the economy of a country.So a short-term profit of selling low-cost paint has a very high price in terms of human resources and actual economic turnover. Interestingly Nerolac is on par with all paint brands of repute in India when it comes to cost. You don’t have to shell out excess of your budget.
Other than paint the other sources of lead exposure are air, water, soil , food, and taking one step at a time will help us go lead-free surely and steadily.

The economic cost of childhood lead exposure in India is a whopping 236 billion dollars.(source)The study was done by Toxics Link and International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), a network of over 600 non-governmental organisations.The problem is that in 2016 Indian Government had made 90ppm the max limit of lead, self certification was advised. While I believe in supporting local and Made in India, the lack of monitoring for small companies producing paint was not something I wanted to trust my home with.

The cheaper paints containing lead appear like a win for homeowners who don’t know about the dangers of lead and sometimes it’s the interior decorators who make the decision .Do you know the biggest problem? The lead in water reaches you through the fruits, vegetables, and all products you consume. It’s called the food cycle and until we phase out lead at all levels, everyone gets slowly poisoned.

Inorganic lead and lead compounds are probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2 A) according to IARC. Other than painting, other sources of lead were gasoline. The Indian government phased it out in 2000.

Children being of growing age are the most vulnerable population and they get exposed from multiple sources. A study done in Pakistan showed workers taking home clothes dusty with lead-contaminated dust and thus exposing their children and family to lead.

Many famous lipstick brands still contain lead and the lack of regulations and awareness is scary. Children especially shouldn’t be exposed to makeup if the ingredients are not known, as it’s very difficult to determine which has lead and which doesn’t.More on that in a later post.

Health effects of lead: Lead gets accumulated in various organs with following effects:

• Anemia
• Decreased IQ and behavioral and learning disorders in children exposed at an early age
• Nervous system disorders,
• Kidney problems
• Liver damage
• Auditory impairment, gastrointestinal damage,
• Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and the progression of cancers such as breast cancer(source).
• Lead may be a risk factor for meningiomas and brain cancers (source).

The strongest epidemiological evidence is for lung and stomach cancers. They are consistently but weakly associated with occupations and industries that involve lead exposure. (source)

Having calcium, and iron supplements reduces the absorption of lead and a high-fat diet could increase the absorption of lead.

Reference

Boskabady M, Marefati N, Farkhondeh T, Shakeri F, Farshbaf A, Boskabady MH. The effect of environmental lead exposure on human health and the contribution of inflammatory mechanisms, a review. Environ Int. 2018;120:404–420. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.08.013.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30125858

El-Naggar NE-A, Hamouda RA, Mousa IE, Abdel-Hamid MS, Rabei NH. Biosorption optimization, characterization, immobilization and application of Gelidium amansii biomass for complete Pb2+ removal from aqueous solutions. Sci Rep. 2018;8(1):13456. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-31660-7.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30194341

Exposure to lead increases the risk of meningioma and brain cancer: A meta-analysis
Yu Meng 1, Caoli Tang 2, Jun Yu 3, Shiyao Meng 4, Wanying Zhang 5 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32146339/

Potential Health Risks of Lead Exposure from Early Life through Later Life: Implications for Public Health Education.Adejoke Christianah Olufemi et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9741093/

Working group on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans: inorganic and organic lead compounds. IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Lyon (FR): International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2006.

Khan D.A., Qayyum S., Saleem S., Ansari W.M., Khan F.A. Lead exposure and its adverse health effects among occupational worker’s children. Toxicol. Ind. Health. 2010;26:497–504. doi: 10.1177/0748233710373085. [PubMed] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20538706/

publications.iarc.fr/_publications/media/download/3795/3bd750c699c77431d0db7b28b0123fa12c901a38.pdf(opens in a new tab).

Healthwealthbridge  Disclaimer health information provided on this blog is for general awareness and doesn’t in any way replace a doctor’s professional medical advice. Kindly consult your doctor in case of any decision regarding your health, and diet.