Banned Leaded Paints Proliferate Online Despite Internet Transactions Act in Effect

Wazzup Pilipinas!?






(EcoWaste Coalition urges online shopping giants to conduct “house cleaning” to rid their platforms of prohibited goods)

28 July 2025, Quezon City. Despite the full enforcement last June 20 of Republic Act No. 11967, or the Internet Transactions Act, online shopping giants have yet to conduct "house cleaning" to ensure that prohibited products such as imported lead-containing paints are no longer advertised, promoted and traded using their platforms, the EcoWaste Coalition said.

The environmental watchdog group expressed utter dismay over the unrelenting sale in major e-commerce sites of imported paints with high levels of lead, a neurotoxic and endocrine disruptor banned in the production of paint, in gross violation of the law.

The importation, distribution and sale of such leaded paints, spray paints for consumer use in particular, makes a mockery of the DENR-issued Chemical Control Order (CCO) banning lead paints implemented by the local paint industry, the group pointed out.

The ban covers all types of paints and similar surface coatings, including those manufactured abroad and sold in the domestic market, with lead content in excess of 90 parts per million (ppm).

 

To demonstrate the problem, the group purchased assorted spray paints from online sellers at Lazada and Shopee for P40 to P105 each and had them screened for lead with the aid of an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer. The products, mostly made in China and Thailand, were ordered between July 15 to 24.

Of the 23 paints purchased, 14 screened positive for lead content ranging from 850 to 81,700 ppm in defiance to the 90 ppm maximum limit. Among those analyzed to contain lead were three anti-corrosive or anti-rust primers. None of these leaded paints were manufactured or distributed by member companies of the Philippine Paint & Coatings Association, Inc., an advocate for the successful industry-wide transition to non-lead paint manufacturing.

As per XRF screening, the following paint brands have one or more colors containing violative levels of lead:

Boston Spray Paint: anti-rust substrate gray (850 ppm)

Collrfia Spray Paint: orange red (1,602 ppm)

Colorz Chisai Spray Paint: metal gray (1,967 ppm), orange red (11,410 ppm), anti-rust brown (13,240 ppm), and canary yellow (31,200 ppm)

Colorz Spray Paint: flash red (983 ppm), jade green (19,340 ppm), and medium yellow (37,800 ppm)

King Sfon Spray Paint: leaf green (38,210 ppm)

Koby Spray Paint: forest green (81,700 ppm)

Nikko Spray Paint: anti-rust primer red (4,541 ppm)

Tiger Spray Paint: orange (16,130 ppm)

Yatibay Spray Paint: blackish green (11,850 ppm)

The EcoWaste Coalition clarified that the above paint brands have other colors with lead content as previously verified through laboratory tests contracted by the group, specifically Boston Spray Paint (orange red); Collrfia Spray Paint (light green, art yellow): Colorz Chisai Spray Paint (canary yellow, orange yellow), Colorz Spray Paint (fresh green, lemon yellow); King Sfon Spray Paint (cream, gold, orange, orange red, silver red, lemon yellow, orange yellow, yellow); Koby Spray Paint (fresh green, deep red, Mars red, orange red, Suzuki red, deep yellow, medium yellow), Nikko Spray Paint (wool beige, army green, dark green, grass green, leaf green, green, orange red, light yellow, medium yellow, yellow); Tiger Spray Paint (bright red, grass green, lemon yellow); and Yatibay Spray Paint (grass green, refrigerator green, deep yellow, Isuzu desert yellow, lemon yellow).

To stop the illegal trade, which poses a public health threat, the EcoWaste Coalition reiterated the urgent need to take down online product listings for lead-containing paints, block and penalize non-compliant sellers, and hold e-commerce sites liable if they fail to act to stop the illegal trade and protect the consumer interest in line with RA 11967.

The group also repeated its call on the government to nominate lead chromates for listing in the Rotterdam Convention to control the global trade of this common lead-based pigments and paints containing them. To date, three countries (Cameroon, Morocco and Switzerland) have nominated lead chromates for listing under the treaty’s Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure.

About "WazzupPilipinas.com"

WazzupPilipinas.com is the fastest growing and most awarded blog and social media community that has transcended beyond online media. It has successfully collaborated with all forms of media namely print, radio and television making it the most diverse multimedia organization. The numerous collaborations with hundreds of brands and organizations as online media partner and brand ambassador makes WazzupPilipinas.com a truly successful advocate of everything about the Philippines, and even more since its support extends further to even international organizations including startups and SMEs that have made our country their second home.