By Tripti Arora, Coordinator, IPEN South Asia Hub, IPEN Gender Coordinator
As plastic pollution spirals into a full-scale environmental and health crisis, the world is witnessing mounting calls for urgent, comprehensive action. A Global Plastics Treaty is now on the agenda, aiming to curb the toxic toll of plastics across ecosystems and communities. Yet, to be truly effective, this treaty needs to acknowledge a crucial but often overlooked dimension: gender.
Increasing plastic recycling has been presented as a solution to the plastic crisis, but the projected recycling numbers are often based on false assumptions and misleading statistics. These are often intentionally presented to oversell the capacity and promise of plastic recycling.
In this research brief, we summarize the science on the limitations of plastic recycling and the skewed statistics that are often used to oversell its potential.
Quezon City. In an unprecedented move, the civil society and the paint industry of the Philippines stepped up their collaborative action to uphold the country’s all-encompassing prohibition against lead-containing paints in order to safeguard the health of children and other vulnerable populations against the harmful effects of lead exposure.
Despite national bans in dozens of countries, lead-containing paint continues to be a widespread source of lead exposure today. Global health authorities say that there are no safe levels of lead exposure for children and increasing evidence shows that low levels of lead exposure are harmful for adults.
This report presents new data on the total lead content of solvent-based paints for decorative and industrial uses available on the market in Tanzania. It also presents background information on why the use of lead paint is a source of serious concern, especially to children’s health; a review of national policy frameworks that are in place banning the manufacture, import, export, sale, and use of lead paint, and provides a strong justification to strengthen compliance monitoring and enforcement of lead paint regulatory controls in Tanzania.
Emeryville, California, USA/Quezon City, Philippines. Ahead of the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (October 20-26), SCS Global Services, a pioneer and international leader in third-party sustainability and environmental certifications, is pleased to announce that Duracoat 100% Pure Acrylic Latex Paint manufactured in the Philippines has been certified as lead-safe.
A new report from IPEN finds that while the EU and other countries have banned the use of lead chromates, they continue to allow production and export of this paint ingredient, putting children and families in recipient countries at risk from lead poisoning.
