27 January 2006
The Department of Health is ready to proceed with plans to regulate the use
of lead in the production of all paint made for use on domestic products such
as furniture and children's toys.
This decision follows a stakeholder meeting convened by the Department of
Health in Pretoria this week. The Department has been meeting routinely with
stakeholders in the public and private sectors since the release of a recent
Medical Research Council (MRC) study into leaded paint. The study established
that lead, which is a toxic metal added to brightly coloured enamel paint,
existed in unacceptably high levels in the majority of readily available retail
paint and children's toys.
Following the meeting on Tuesday, the Department will immediately begin with
the painstaking process of developing new regulations, under the Hazardous
Substance Act. The new regulations will make stipulation on paint sold with
lead levels above an acceptable limit. Under these regulations all paints
containing lead exceeding the set levels will be classified as a hazardous
substance and would have to be sold at separate outlets.
The regulations will be applicable to paint manufactured in and imported or
exported from South Africa with the primary aim of limiting, to a great extend,
the contact of children with painted end products containing lead. This action
is a direct response to mounting evidence of the effects of lead poisoning on
young children, particularly those under the age of four.
High levels of lead in the blood system are known to have long-term adverse
health and social effects for both children and adults including:
* Lowered IQ scores
* Reading and learning difficulties at school
* Hearing problems
* Decreased growth
* Anaemia and abnormal growth
* Permanent muscle paralysis, brain damage, coma and death in severe cases
The Department has declared the prevention of childhood lead poisoning a
priority area and every effort is being made to protect children from any form
of exposure. The new regulations will build on an ongoing National Lead
Prevention Awareness Campaign launched by the Department late last year to
create awareness on the hazards of lead paint and steps that can be taken to
avoid exposure and poisoning.
Enquiries:
Solly Mabotha
Chief Directorate: Communications
Cell: 083 678 9860
Issued by: Department of Health
27 January 2006
