Production of lead free paint in Nigeria is possible-study

A pilot project embarked upon by the Sustainable and Research and Action for Environmental Development- Nigeria (SRADev-Nigeria) as shown that lead can be successfully removed in paint production in Nigeria.

Besides, the project has also provided opportunity for paint manufacturers to avail themselves with alternative components that can be used instead of lead.

At a Project Dissemination workshop organized by SRADev-Nigeria in Lagos on Thursday June 30, 2022, participants were unanimous that Nigeria must be in the fore front in ensuring that leaded paint are not produced in the so as to ensure the wellbeing of people and the environment.

Facilitator of the workshop, distinguished Professor Babajide Alo, noted that it has been proven that leaded paint  produced around the world is hazardous to human health and there is the need to put a stop to this by preventing further damage and possible loss of life.

He went further, “It has been proven that lead is very toxic and very dangerous to man and animals, it has been proven that children who gets in contact with lead gets their brain toxified somehow, so based on that, the world led by United Nations for Environmental Programme (UNEP) decided that we needed to get rid of lead in every paint produced.

“About 10 years ago after carefully studying the effect of all forms of paint produced at the time have on people, UNEP felt there was necessity to eliminate lead and it’s compounds in paint production” he said.

The workshop facilitator maintained that the pilot scheme project embarked upon by SRADev-Nigeria has shown that lead can be successfully removed in paint production in Nigeria and provide alternative that can be used instead of lead components.

In his goodwill message, Executive Director, SRADev-Nigeria, Dr. Leslie Adogame, said the project titled Global Environment Facility, GEF 9771 focuses on Global Best Practices on Emerging Chemicals Policy Issues of Concern under the Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management (SAICM), and it is aimed at providing information on the lesson learnt, share experiences and provide information on the deliverables as well as discuss next steps on elimination of leaded paint in Nigeria.

The SRADev chief said, “Nigeria is the only country chosen for this GEF Project in Africa so it is a pilot and the experiences of SRADeV-Nigeria will be shared with other African countries. Last week was the African regional meeting in Nairobi, Kenya and we talked extensively about how far this project has come.

“The number one objective of the Final Project Dissemination Workshop is essentially to disseminate information on the reformation process and outcome of working with SME paint manufacturers and our major partner, Clariant/Parco who helped in the area of technical support. The need to present participating Paint Manufacturing SMEs to see their commitment in the production of lead-free paint and PMA technical team and also facilitate discussion on next steps with policy makers and industries on lead paint elimination” he stressed.

In his presentation, Senior Project Officer of SRADeV-Nigeria, Mr. Victor Fabunmi highlighted the activities of the NGO dated back to November 19, 2020 when the project was launched in collaboration with International Pollutants Elimination Network, (IPEN) he encouraged paint manufacturers to be champions of the cause in establishing that production of lead-free paint is achievable.

“There was partnership with PMA, SMEs and alternative suppliers on reformation and it yielded positive results. Bluetech Limited, Precious Paints Nigeria Limited, Integrated Pain and Allied Products, Prestige Paint, Olabi Paint and Fundamental Technologies (Funda Paint) were able to achieve complete reformulation” he concluded.

While disclosing the key achievement of the project, representative of UNEP who joined via online video noted that with what has been achieved with the research work, reformulation is entirely possible and doable with a call for a legal team to be set up so as to take care of legal issues and offer legal drafting support in ensuring strict compliance.

On the issue of informal sector, Dr. Adogame suggested that they should be reorganized and absorbed into the system fully, this according to him will ensure they adhere to the rules of the sector.

He explained, “What the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment needs to do is to map the country, identify the informal sector and formalize them by reorganizing them into productive sector and they can become useful and contribute to the GDP of the country. Ensure they get benefit and incentives instead of tasking them” he concluded.

Professor Alo however, assured all participants that the project enjoys full support of the Federal Government of Nigeria and agencies like Stanford Organization of Nigeria, SON, and National Environmental Standards Enforcement and Regulation Agency (NESREA) area determined to ensure strict compliance in ensuring we have a healthier environment

UNEP’s Nicoline Laxanchy, IPEN representativeand World Health Organisation Dr. Marcus Oluwadare participated virtually. Various government agencies present at the workshop include Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Standard Organization of Nigeria, SON, National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency, NESREA among others.