Central Asia began to solve the problem of paint safety

At the ipen Regional Seminar on lead pollution in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asian countries, local environmentalists acknowledged that the paint safety situation in Central Asian countries is worrying and no real measures have been taken to properly solve it More and more attention has been paid to lead in coatings in this area According to a national UNICEF study in Georgia, 41% of children are found to have a blood lead level greater than or equal to 5 μ g / dl, which is considered a relatively safe health level, among which 16% of children have a blood lead level greater than or equal to 10 μ g / dl In some specific areas, 85% of children's samples contain excessive lead The results were dismal, and as a result, national governments committed themselves to "working to develop short - and long-term response strategies and actions" Although the study did not identify the main source of lead, it is clear that paint is one of them This is seen as part of a major problem in some countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus, where it is believed that these coatings may pose a dangerous health risk Exposure to high levels of lead can lead to anemia, weakness, kidney and brain damage High lead exposure can lead to death Exposure to high levels of lead can lead to anemia, weakness, kidney and brain damage High levels of lead can lead to death and lead can cross the placental barrier, meaning that pregnant women exposed to lead can also expose unborn children The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says lead can damage the developing baby's nervous system Tajikistan is a small country between China and Afghanistan The study of the support fund for the civil initiative of Tajikistan shows that in Tajikistan, the quality of coatings on the market is almost uncontrollable Muazama burkhanova, the fund's chairman, said that no company selling paint could produce a certificate of origin for the paint and it was impossible for customers to know what ingredients might be contained in it These claims have been confirmed by independent research In 2016, eco organizations in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia conducted large-scale studies of lead content in coatings from Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan The results show that 49% of the paint samples collected in the local market contain more than 600 ppm lead, 13% more than 5000 ppm lead and 6% more than 10000 ppm lead Deadly imports Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have a wide range of coatings to choose from, but the market is dominated by nameless brands There is also a notorious garage paint, which is illegally manufactured in small workshops in traditional garages The three countries in the region do not participate in the FTA agreement, and because of limited or no domestic production, they have a short list of how to treat imported suppliers, including suppliers from Turkey, China, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Finland and a wide range of other countries Almost all imported coatings have no ingredient information on their labels The study on coatings in Tajikistan shows that 48 out of 51 samples contain excessive lead, in some cases, the proportion of lead in coatings has reached an unprecedented 20% The paint with the highest lead content is provided by alvan & Mashhad Kraska, an Iranian manufacturer, while the paint with the lowest lead content is from Sri Lanka, Brazil and South Africa This is considered part of a big problem because in Central Asia and some Caucasus countries, it is difficult to take any measures against poor quality coatings So far, no practical action has been taken, because the authorities dare not let the domestic market without paint Burkhanova said that Tajikistan, for example, has a high dependence on lead paint, and in the case of a ban on the use of lead in paint, it must be ensured that the import of paint does not completely stop in Tajikistan Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are in a dilemma, because the introduction of any restrictions aimed at making coatings more environmentally friendly is likely to significantly increase market prices, while not taking any measures to protect the health of consumers, are likely to face increasing pressure from opponents and environmentalists Abduhakim sarimsakov, chief toxicologist of the Ministry of health of Uzbekistan, commented that the authorities are fully aware of the negative impact of lead on people's health, but so far no large-scale action has been taken at the national level to deal with the problem Sarimsakov added that Uzbekistan has several paint manufacturers that produce lead based coatings, as well as cheap coatings imported from Turkey, South Korea and China In Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the high lead content in coatings is just the tip of the iceberg Technically, the region has become one of the world's markets, with price being the only important factor, and no one cares about safety as far as non food products are concerned, said a local paint industry source, who asked not to be named He added that a variety of substances, such as formaldehyde and chromium, have attracted strong attention from environmentalists, but no politician wants to influence prices by introducing stricter standards, so there is no significant change at present
In Central Asia, especially in some specific countries, the problem of cheap and inferior coatings is considered to have some economic reasons, because the region is one of the poorest regions in Eurasia The average monthly salary of Tajikistan is 140 US dollars, that of Turkmenistan is 226 US dollars, and that of Uzbekistan is 218 US dollars In fact, most local people have no choice but to Can choose the cheapest paint The European Economic Union is considering changing the law Some environmentalists and politicians in the region are carrying out a campaign to limit the maximum allowable content of lead in paint to 90 ppm Kanagat dussambayev, spokesperson for the Ministry of chemical and pharmaceutical industry of the Ministry of industry of Kazakhstan, said that this would lead to a sharp decline, because in the Eurasian Union, a trade area of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, the currently allowed proportion is 15% of the total coating content, equivalent to 150000 ppm In Russia, there is a federal law, "coating Safety Law", which allows the production and further use of coatings with lead content up to 5000pmm 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 the paint is produced There is also a problem of smuggling, as customs inspect paint on the border, with the exception of paint transported by rail This is a problem for the Asian part of the Eurasian Union, especially Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, because the quality control of coatings in Russia and Belarus is much stricter The European Economic Union (EEU) is currently developing a new technical regulation "on the safety of paint products", which may bring a turnaround to the paint market Gennady averyanov, director of centrlak, the Russian coating manufacturers' Association, said that it was not only prohibited to use lead paint indoors, but also prohibited to use lead paint in all public facilities such as schools and kindergartens Averyanov said the draft technical regulations take into account the world's best practices and requirements for paint safety He added that the requirements of the regulation are similar to those of the United States, the European Union and the Asia Pacific region As of the beginning of December last year, the law has not been passed, and it is not clear when it will be introduced.