Children and Pregnant Mothers face widespread exposure to toxic lead in paint

Young children and pregnant mothers in the developing world are still exposed to high levels of lead through unsafe paints. And it comes 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. A study by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) finds 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. The study analyzed enamel decorative paints from nine countries: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Chile, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia and Uruguay.