UNEP / LEAD PAINT LAUNCH

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More than 90 years after theLeague of Nationscalled for a ban on lead in paint, and despite the existence of many safe alternatives, young children and pregnant mothers in the developing world are still exposed to high levels of the dangerous toxin through unsafe paints. UNEP / FILE/ARCHIVE
Description

STORY: UNEP / LEAD PAINT
TRT: 2:49
SOURCE: UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS

DATELINE: 22 OCTOBER 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA /FILE/ARCHIVE

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Shotlist

ARCHIVE - LEAGUE OF NATIONS, 1920, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Various shots, League of nations meeting

22 OCTOBER 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA

2. Wide shot, presser
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Juan Caicedo, Program Officer, UNEP Chemicals Branch:
“It’s more than 90 years since ILO Convention on White Lead Paints was signed and we are still finding paints containing lead in many of the countries throughout the world.”
4. Cutaway, presser
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Gilruth, Director, UNEP Division of Early Warning and Assessment:
“Why is lead paint so popular? It’s added to paint to speed up drying, increase durability, maintain a fresh appearance, and it resists moisture and breakdown. These are the advantages of it and perhaps why it remains in the system. But nevertheless, lead paint is hazardous. It creates nervous system damage, stunted growth, kidney damage, and delayed intellectual development. It is said to be a possible and probably carcinogen.”
6. Cutaway, presser
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Juan Caicedo, Program Officer, UNEP Chemicals Branch:
“Most paints that were tested in many countries do not meet regulatory standards which are established in highly industrialized countries such as the US and Canada. We are talking about percentages of 90 ppms of content of lead in paint, and many of those 9 countries have concentrations of up to 10000 ppms or even more.“
8. Cutaway, presser
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Gilruth, Director, UNEP Division of Early Warning and Assessment:
“Here’s one thing that came as a bit of a surprise to me, from the World Health Organization: They say that each year childhood exposure to lead contributes to 600000 new cases of intellectual disabilities.”
10. Cutaway, presser
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Gilruth, Director, UNEP Division of Early Warning and Assessment:
“What is the economic impact of this loss of intellectual activity? And they’ve estimated it to be a total cumulative loss of $977 billion per year for all low and middle income countries.”

FILE - OCTOBER 2010, KYRGYSTAN

12. Close up, young baby crying

FILE – 2012, GHANA

13. Close up, baby sleeping at breast, Ghana, 2012

FILE – 2012, GHANA

14. Wide shot, four children

FILE – 2013, ETHIOPIA

15. Various shots, community workers

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Storyline

More than 90 years after the League of Nations called for a ban on lead in paint, and despite the existence of many safe alternatives, young children and pregnant mothers in the developing world are still exposed to high levels of the dangerous toxin through unsafe paints.

A study by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) released during the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action (organized by the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint), analyzed enamel decorative paints from nine countries: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Chile, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia and Uruguay.

At the launch of the report on Tuesday in Nairobi, program officer at UNEP Juan Caicedo said that since the ILO Convention on White Lead Paints was signed 90 years ago, “we are still finding paints containing lead in many of the countries throughout the world.”

Explaining why lead paint was so popular around the world, Peter Gilruth Director at UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment said that the advantages of using lead paint were to to speed up drying, increase durability, maintain a fresh appearance, and it resists moisture and breakdown. But, he said “nevertheless lead paint is hazardous, adding taht it creates nervous system damage, stunted growth, kidney damage, and delayed intellectual development. "It is said to be a possible and probably carcinogen.”

The report found that the majority of the paints tested would not meet regulatory standards established in most highly industrialized countries- for example, 90 parts per million (ppm) in the United States and Canada-and that some contain astonishingly high and dangerous levels of lead.

Caicedo said those nine countries that did not meet the established standard levels had concentrations of up to “10000 ppms or even more.“

Gilruth also noted that according to World Health Organization figures, childhood lead exposure contributes to an estimated 600,000 new cases of intellectual disabilities. The economic impact of that loss of intellectual activity was estimated to be a total cumulative loss of $977 billion per year for all low and middle income countries.

Worldwide, 30 countries have already phased out the use of lead paint. The Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint, co-led by WHO and UNEP, has set a target of 70 countries by 2015.

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UNEP/ARCHIVE
MAMS Id
U131022f