Central Asia Begins to Address Paint Safety Issues

at the IPEN regional seminar on lead contamination in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asian countries, local environmentalists acknowledged that the safety of paint in Central Asian countries was a concern and that no real measures had been taken to properly address itLead inpaint is getting more and more attention in the areaIn a nationally representative UNICEF study in Georgia, 41 percent of children in Georgia were found to have blood lead levels greater than or equal to 5 micrograms per deciliter, which is considered a relatively safe health level, with 16 percent of children having blood lead levels greater than or equal to 10 micrograms per deciliter85 percent of children's samples had excessive lead levels in some specific areasThe results were frustrating, and national Governments were therefore committed to "working to develop short- and long-term response strategies and actions"Although the study did not identify the main source of lead, it was clear that paint was one of themthis is considered part of a major problem in some countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as these coatings are thought to pose dangerous health risksexposure to high levels of lead can lead to anemia, weakness, kidney and brain damageHigh lead exposure can lead to deathExposure to high levels of lead can lead to anemia, weakness, kidney and brain damageHigh levels of lead can lead to death, and lead can pass through the placental barrier, meaning that pregnant women exposed to lead can also expose their unborn childrenThe U.SCenters for Disease Control and Prevention says lead can damage the nervous system of developing babiesTajikistan is a small country between China and AfghanistanResearch by the Tajikistan Private Initiative Support Fund shows that the quality of paint on the market in Tajikistan is almost uncontrolledMuazama Burkhanova, the fund's chairman, said no company selling paint could produce a certificate of origin for the paint and that customers would not know what ingredients it might contain these claims have been confirmed by independent studies In 2016, eco-organizations in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia conducted large-scale studies of lead levels in paints in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan The results showed that 49% of the various paint samples collected in the local market contained more than 600 ppm, 13% contained more than 5000 ppm, and 6% contained more than 10,000 ppm lethal imports a wide variety of coatings to choose from in the markets of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, but the market is dominated by unnamed brands There is also the infamous garage paint, which refers to the paint illegally manufactured in a small workshop in a traditional garage the three countries in the region are not parties to the ftA agreement and, because of limited or non-domestic production, they have a short list of how to treat imported suppliers, including those from Turkey, China, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Finland and a wide range of other countries almost all imported paint labels do not have ingredient information Research on coatings in Tajikistan showed that 48 out of 51 samples had exceeded the lead level, and in some cases lead accounted for an unprecedented 20 per cent of the paint the most lead-containing coatings were supplied by Iranian manufacturer Alvan and Mashhad Kraska, while the lowest lead-containing coatings came from Sri Lanka, Brazil and South Africa This is considered to be part of a large rheus, as it is difficult to take any measures against poor quality coatings in Central Asia and some Caucasus countries has so far taken no action because the authorities are afraid to leave the domestic market free of paint Burkhanova said that, for example, Tajikistan is highly dependent on lead paint, and if lead is prohibited in paint, it is important to ensure that paint imports do not stop completely in Tajikistan Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are in a dilemma, as any restrictions aimed at making paints more environmentally friendly are likely to significantly increase market prices without any measures to protect consumers' health, which could come under increasing pressure from the opposition and environmentalists Abduhakim Sarimsakov, Chief Toxicologist of the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan, commented that the authorities were fully aware of the negative impact of lead on the health of the population, but that no large-scale action had been taken at the national level to address the problem Sarimsakov added that Uzbekistan has several paint manufacturers that produce lead paint, as well as cheap paints imported from Turkey, South Korea and China high levels of lead in paint sin in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are just the tip of the iceberg A local paint industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the region had technically become one of the world's markets and that price was the only important factor, and that no one cared about safety for non-food products He added that a variety of substances, such as formaldehyde and chromium, have attracted strong concerns from environmentalists, but that no politician wants to influence prices by introducing stricter standards, so there has been no major change in Central Asia, particularly in some particular countries, the problem of cheap and inferior paints is considered to have some economic reasons, as the region is one of the poorest parts of Eurasia, with an average monthly salary of $140 in Tajikistan, $226 in Turkmenistan and $218 in Uzbekistan, so in practice most locals have no choice but to choose the cheapest paint the European Economic Union is considering changing the law
some environmentalists and politicians in the region are campaigning to limit the maximum allowable amount of lead in paint to 90 ppm Kanagat Dussambayev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries of the Ministry of Industry of Kazakhstan, said this would lead to a sharp drop, as the current allowed ratio of 15 per cent of the total paint content, equivalent to 150,000 ppm, is currently allowed in the Eurasian Union, a trading zone between Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia in Russia, there is a federal law, the Paint Safety Act, which allows the production and further use of coatings with lead content of up to 5000pm but Kanagat Dussambayev says even those standards often don't help, because companies that sell paint on the market often don't have financial documents to track where they are produced There is also a smuggling problem, as customs inspect paint on the border, with the exception of paint for rail transport is a problem for the Asian part of the Eurasian Union, particularly Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, as the quality of the coatings is much more stringent in Russia and Belarus the European Economic Union (EEU) is currently working on a new technical regulation" on the safety of coating products, which could bring a turnaround to the paint market Gennady Averyanov, director of TheInrlak, a Russian association of paint manufacturers, said not only the use of lead paint indoors, but also lead paint in all public facilities, including schools and kindergartens, was banned Averyanov said the draft regulations take into account the world's best practices and requirements for coating safety He added that the requirements of the regulation were similar to those of the United States, the European Union and the Asia-Pacific region As of early December, the law had not yet been passed, and it was unclear when it might be introduced