Lead in Paint

The BCF are a partner of the Lead Paint Alliance. The BCF's letter to the United Nations Environment Programme details the scope of the partnership.

The BCF is an active member of the World Coatings Council, which seeks to address the health, safety and environmental impacts associated with the manufacture and use of coatings and printing inks, including the recognition, evaluation and control of hazards arising from the use of lead in paint.

The British Coatings Federation, through the World Coatings Council, is a member of the Lead Paint Alliance (LPA), whose overall goal is to prevent children’s exposure to paints containing lead and to minimize occupational exposure to lead paint. Whilst lead hasn’t been used in decorative paints in the UK for more than 40 years, it is still being used in many developing countries around the world.

The World Coatings Council established the following policy statement in 2009, which BCF fully supports:

“The World Coatings Council supports the long-standing effectiveness of lead-use restrictions that are already in place in certain jurisdictions and recommends their widespread adoption by authorities not currently regulating the use of lead in paint and printing ink. Such restrictions may be accomplished through specific legislation or regulation, formal voluntary agreements, or by other means that ensure widespread and verifiable compliance.”

For people removing paint from surfaces painted pre 1960s, where old lead paints may be encountered, the Federation has created a guide and which is available from the FAQs section of the BCF website here.

The British Coatings Federation’s members also want to move away from lead in industrial coatings. At a BCF council meeting in April 2013, the BCF's Industrial Coatings Council supported legislating to create a global ban on the manufacture of all lead chromate pigments, as for the paint industry we believe there are suitable alternatives available. Under REACH, lead chromate pigments are subject to an Authorisation, limiting their use to industrial applications. A recent EU court case  has questioned even this use. 

Users of paint containing these substances must:

• register with ECHA that they use paints containing these substances (via their website: https://echa.europa.eu/support/dossier-submission-tools/reach-it/downstream-user-authorised-use)
  
• supply to ECHA a detailed justification of the need to use these paints
  
• perform air monitoring and biological monitoring of staff and register the data with ECHA
  be trained in the hazards of the materials and safe methods of use
  
• follow the risk management measures (RMMs) and Operational Conditions (OCs) as outlined in the safety data sheets provided by the supplier. This may require the use of engineering controls and personal protective equipment (PPE)