STAKEHOLDERS have called for coordinated efforts by the government and importers and manufacturers to permanently eliminate lead poisoning in paint in order to rescue the public from serious health impacts.

Dora Swai, senior programme officer with the Agenda for Environment and Responsible Development (AGENDA) activist organisation, said at a multi-stakeholder workshop on lead paint elimination in Dar es Salaam yesterday, stressing the urgency of the issue.

She underscored the need for the country to establish specific policies, laws and regulations to control and eradicate lead poisoning, as it increasingly poses major health risks to communities, especially children.

 Lead is a toxic metal residue used for many purposes and noticeably present in a variety of consumer products such as paint, ceramic glazes, solder, ammunition as well as some traditional medicines and cosmetics, she stated.

The workshop was conducted in view of the international lead poisoning prevention week which takes place annually, taking up the third week of October, a week of action intended to raise awareness about the health effects of lead exposure, she stated.

Allowing lead-based paints to still enter the country or being locally produced poses significant risks to children as they are the primary victims of lead poisoning, she said, pointing out that paint containing lead additives pose risks to health from poisoning and environmental contamination. 

“Lead can have permanent health effects on children and also causes harm to adults, she asserted, urging the government to implement robust strategies to ensure the nation remains safe from lead poisoning.

 “We all need to raise awareness about the health effects of lead exposure, highlight the efforts of countries and partners to prevent lead exposure particularly in children, and urge further action to eliminate lead paint through regulatory measures at the national level,” she elaborated.

Yohana Ngoshashy, head of poison control nationwide at the Government Chemist Laboratory Authority (GCLA), noted that in previous years the government took steps to remove lead-based fuels from the market.

As challenges remain with other products, this calls for concerted efforts to eliminate this poison, including increased supervision and monitoring of small-scale battery processing factories, mines, weapons, cosmetics, toys and paints, he declared.

More public education is also needed to raise awareness about the impacts, he said, affirming that no level of lead exposure is considered safe for adults or children. 

Lead can be found in decorative paints used on the interiors and exteriors of homes, schools, public and commercial buildings, aside from toys, furniture and playgrounds, he elaborated.

Dr Grace Mhando, a paediatrician from Amana regional referral hospital in the city, noted that childhood lead poisoning, including exposure during pregnancy, can have lifelong health impacts such as learning disabilities, anaemia and disorders affecting coordination, visual-spatial and language skills.
 This raises the need for more clinician training on heavy metal management to combat lead exposure, she stated, while Silvani Mng’anya, the AGENDA executive secretary, stated that concerted national and international action is urgently needed to address the challenge. 

Studies have documented that lead exposure results in neuropsychological impacts in children, including impaired intelligence, he stressed, noting that even minimal exposure can lead to lifelong developmental and health issues. This makes eradication of lead exposure a paramount public health concern, he declared.

Last year estimates by the World Bank put the global cost of the loss of intellectual capacity in children under five years old at $1.4trn, with the highest impact in low- and middle-income countries.

Miraji Kambangwa, a standards officer at the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), said that one among actions taken by the government in that direction is endorsing legal standards that set a limit for lead in paint and other coatings.

 Manufacturers are required to comply with the limit of no more than 90 parts per million (ppm) (90 mg/kg total lead), he said, affirming that this limit has also been harmonized within the East Africa Community partner states.

In so doing, Tanzania joins nearly a half of United Nations member states with legally binding controls on the production, import, sale and use of lead paints, he remarked. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified lead as one among ten widely used chemicals posing major public health concern, requiring action by member states to protect the health of workers, children and women of reproductive age.