Dangerous Lead-Based Paint Common Around the World

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com A new study shows that lead-based paint remains a worldwide threat to public health. Paint containing lead is a major cause of lead poisoning in children. The heavy metal enters the body when children breathe the paint dust or fumes in the air. Or when babies put their mouth on painted surfaces or swallow pieces of paint. Lead can damage the brain and the nervous system. It can decrease intelligence, create behavior problems and slow a child's growth. Researchers tested new household enamel paints from twelve countries in Africa, Asia and South America. The paints were sold under different brand names. The study found that almost three-fourths of the brands had dangerously high levels of lead. Scott Clark is a professor of environmental health at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio. He said: "Most of the paint brands that we looked at had at least one sample that was above ten thousand parts per million, which is over a hundred times the current U.S. standard." The United States has restricted lead content in paint since nineteen seventy-eight. Until August, the safety standard for consumer paints was six hundred parts per million. But the Consumer Product Safety Commission has just lowered the limit to ninety parts per million. The new study appears in the journal Environmental Research. The team found levels of lead as high as thirty-two t

Published 2009-09-18 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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