SRADev scales up awareness campaign on lead free paint

Apparently due to the success recorded during the pilot stage of an awareness campaign project that started two years ago in Lagos which was a demonstration that it is possible to reformulate lead paint, the Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev) Nigeria, has scaled up the project into the six geopolitical zones of the country.

Executive Director, SRADev, Dr. Leslie Adogame, disclosed during a day-long workshop Project Inception/Awareness raising workshop themed:  “Strengthening National Capacity Towards Elimination of Lead Paint in Nigeria” held in Lagos on Wednesday 25^th October 2023 that three zones have been identified where a lot of awareness is going to be created and build capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) with the aim to reformulate.

“Now, with a little success, we want to move this project to the states.  We have identified three zones where a lot of awareness is going to be created and build capacity of SMEs with the aim to reformulate,” Adogame said.

Similarly, participants in the Nigeria’s paints industry at the workshop called on the Federal Government to immediately pass into law the draft regulations on hazardous chemicals.

They said the draft regulation on hazardous chemicals, which was put together two years ago by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in conjunction with stakeholders, should be passed into law.

They described it as “unfortunate” that Nigeria does not have any regulations in place by this time.

The workshop, which was convened by SRADev aimed at awareness programme on eliminating Lead use in Nigerian paints towards the effective implementation of the appropriate regulation, under the auspices of LEEP Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP).

Justifying the essence of the workshop, Executive Director, SRADev Nigeria, Dr. Leslie Adogame, said it was part of the programme to celebrate this year’s International Lead Poisoning Day and to draw basis interest of the consciousness of world’s people towards lead poisoning.

According to him, lead poisoning is one kind of obnoxious environmental issue that nobody really pays attention to whereas a lot of children are going down with the poisoning.

For this purpose, he explained that World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with the United Nation Environmental programme (UNEP) has set aside between October 22nd and 28th for the entire world to choose a day in the week to raise awareness on lead poisoning.

“This week marks the international lead poisoning that we celebrate worldwide. It’s World Health Organization event. It’s been done every year. The essence is to draw on a year basis interest of the world people consciousness towards lead poisoning.

“We on our own are already implementing the multi stakeholders project with all the related government’s ministries,”Adogame said.

He pointed out that, there was a project that is helping Nigeria to move away from lead for paint and the stakeholders have chosen today as the best day to raise awareness and to launch the project.

He said: It’s a project that is going to be projected. It’s has been scaled up into the six geopolitical zones. We had a pilot project earlier two years ago in Lagos, which was the demonstration that it is possible to reformulate for lead paint –  that is take away lead out of paint.

“Now, with a little success, we want to move this project to the states.  We have identified three zones where a lot of awareness is going to be created and build capacity of SMEs with the aim to reformulate,” the executive director said.

Decrying non passage of NESREA’s draft regulation on hazardous chemicals into law two years after, Adogame said: “We are working with Standards Organization of Nigeria to bring it’s own standards that will help to communicate the regulations of NESREA.

One of the paint manufacturers at the workshop, Tijani Abdulgafar, talked about the efforts being made by the company to reduce lead in paints.

He said the company is currently working with SRADev on lead elimination.

“Since we know that lead is cancergenic pigment (material in our pigment,) what we are trying to do is to completely eliminate it even though you can’t do it 100 percent,  but we are trying to reduce it to the  bearest minimum to compete with the world’s  standard.

“What we have done so far with SRADeV is to have a replacement of our pigment rendered to replace lead pigment in our system,” he said.

He added that the company is trying to eliminate lead in all the materials being used in the system.

“We are part of the project. What we do generally is to inform others through our membership that we have to eliminate lead in our paint completely,” he said.

According to him, Paint Manufacturers Association of Nigeria is working with SRADev, adding that the awareness is ongoing.

Senior official from the Federal Ministry of Environment, Kola Oladele, said that what has been done was to create awareness on the harmful effects of lead especially on children and pregnant women.

“So, what we have done is to create awareness to the danger in lead paint and to create awareness on the stable alternative that are there to replace lead,” he said.

On what has been done so far, he disclosed that the ministry is working with SRADev to sensitize people with the formulation aspect of lead paints.

“We gather some SMEs to demonstrate that there are alternative that are positive. The last one was the information project, it’s a pilot test that we had in Lagos.  We tutored the SMEs the way to which they can formulate things and move and shift from lead addictive to additives that are not dangerous,” he said.

An Executive Director with SON, Mrs. Thessy Ojomo, said the agency has standards for various paint projects, adding that the requirements and parameters are all enshrined in the standards.

Besides, she said the standards are been reviewed regularly to reflect new technological developments.

Currently with the campaign and awareness of lead elimination, she said the agency is looking at reviewing the standard particularly in line with the requirements of ECOWAS region and Africa.

She said: “The requirement for lead in paint is 90 ppa million, but we are encouraging manufacturers that they can go more lower.”

SRADev Nigeria is the focal point of the United Nation Environment Programme Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management (SAICM). With the support of LEEP (an international NGO) a partner of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (GAELP) with interest in the conduct of lead paint studies to obtain country-specific data, support for governments in implementing lead paint regulations and provision of  technical assistance to help paint manufacturers switch to lead-free.