Archive photo: Daniel Steyn

• South Africans are very highly exposed to lead. This is because the metal has been used in a range of ordinary consumer products across the country.
• In 2022, South Africa imported more than 700 tonnes of lead chromates from India, according to a new report. These are pigments used in paints and plastics.
• Research shows that between 2020 and 2022, Indian companies exported lead chromates to 78 countries. South Africa was the third biggest beneficiary on the list in 2021 and 2022.
• New regulations were issued in May, lowering the allowable threshold for lead in paint from 0.06% to 0.009%.

In the 2000s, scientists discovered that toxic lead paint was widely used in South Africa, covering everything from residential houses has playground equipment. In many cases, the paint flaked off, forming lead dust that children could inhale or get on their hands and mouths. It would be increase their risk of heart disease and can affect brain development.

In 2009, the National Ministry of Health responded in set legal limits about how much lead manufacturers might add to paint (something countries like France and Belgium had done it a hundred years ago).

Earlier this year, the threshold was fell even moreto a level that effectively prohibits people from intentionally adding lead to paint. The South African Paint Manufacturers Association had advised for years its members to respect this standard in preparation for these new regulations.

Despite this, South Africa remained a major importer of lead pigments, according to a report. new report from the International Pollutant Elimination Network (IPEN). In 2022, South Africa imported 713 tonnes of lead chromates from India alone.

Lead chromates are used to add color to paints (and sometimes plastics) and to make them more resistant to corrosion. Non-toxic alternatives have existed for decades, allowing some countries to phase them out.

The report shows that between 2020 and 2022, Indian companies exported lead chromates to 78 countries. South Africa was the third largest recipient on the list in 2021 and 2022. According to the study, South African companies also purchased lead chromates from France and Germany, although the total quantities are unknown in these cases.

Dr Sara Brose, lead author of the report, told GroundUp that richer countries must avoid double standards in the lead trade: “Richer countries have a responsibility not to export lead products. toxic chemicals banned in their own country. » Especially if the importing country “has weak trade surveillance capacity”.

Source: World Health Organization chart published in the IPEN report.

Exposed to high levels of lead

A Study 2023 published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, an estimated 5.5 million people die each year from heart disease linked to lead exposure – a figure higher than the number of people killed by outdoor air pollution. A number of causal studies have also demonstrated a link between childhood lead exposure and lower academic performance.

These damages disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, which have failed to implement or enforce anti-lead legislation. South Africa is no exception. In addition to its regulatory shortcomings regarding painting, the government has failed to create adequate buffer zones between residential areas and mining waste facilities, allowing lead to contaminate garden soil and vegetation.

Other sources of exposure in South Africa include lead-based ammunition, fishing sinkerscertain ayurvedic medicines and artisanal aluminum pots.

The result is that most ordinary South Africans have a lot of lead in their system. Any exposure to lead is dangerous, but National Institute of Communicable Diseases Reports that if a person has more than five micrograms of lead in every 100 ml of blood, health authorities must be informed immediately.

A A 2022 study estimated that in South Africa53% of all children exceeded this blood lead threshold. As a reminder, when lead was discovered in the drinking water of the American city of Flint, Michigan, it prompted the American federal government to declare a state of emergency. At the time, less than 4% of children in Flint exceeded the threshold of five micrograms. (The studies are not entirely comparable because they look at different age groups.)

Asked about the IPEN report, Ministry of Health spokesperson Foster Mohale acknowledged the “massive quantities of lead chromates imported between 2020 and 2022”. He said this happened “before new regulations were issued on lead in paint or coating materials.” The regulation was published in May and lowered the allowable threshold for lead in paint from 0.06% to 0.009%.

Mohale told GroundUp that “the Ministry of Health anticipates that imports of lead chromates will cease due to the new regulations (which require) importers to submit or produce a declaration of conformity certificate.”

Mohale said that “at ports of entry, Border Management Authority port health officers have been trained and trained in the use of XRFs (X-ray fluorescence devices used to monitor lead levels).” .

It remains to be seen whether the new regulations will be applied effectively, as the 2009 law is often flouted. For example, a study from 2023 showed that many ceramic bowls and plates in Johannesburg retail stores were coated with a ceramic glaze that exceeded legal lead limits. The lead content of a product manufactured in South Africa was more than 100 times higher than the legal limit.

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