Wazzup Pilipinas!?
(EcoWaste Coalition flags another case of lead paint dumping)
4 February 2026, Quezon City. The EcoWaste Coalition has again discovered a highly leaded spray paint brand with no manufacturer information, which is unlawfully sold on e-commerce platforms Lazada and Shopee.
In a press statement, the group warned the public against buying and using Driveone Off Ultra Bright Fluorescent Night Light Spray Paint, which is being sold online for less than P100 per 620 mL aerosol can.
Using a portable Olympus Vanta M Series X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyser, the group detected and measured the lead content of the two Driveone Off paint samples purchased.
As per XRF screening, the fluorescent green paint contains 63,100 parts per million (ppm), while the fluorescent yellow paint contains 59,510 ppm. Both paints exceed the maximum 90 ppm lead limit in paint.
Despite the extremely high lead content, the product label does not provide any lead content information or lead paint hazard warning to inform and guide consumers. The label also does not offer any clues about the product manufacturer, importer or distributor.
DENR Administrative Order No. 2013-24 established a strict 90 ppm for lead in all paint types, including spray paints. The regulation, also known as the Chemical Control Order (CCO), phased out lead-containing paints during the 2013-2019 transition period.
Specifically, decorative paints containing lead were phased out from 2013 to 2016. Lead-containing industrial paints were phased out from 2013 to 2019.
The analyzed Driveone Off paints were both manufactured in 2025, or several years after the ban on lead-containing paints took effect in the Philippines, making their importation and distribution brazenly illegal.
Spray paints generally fall under the decorative type because they are marketed for consumer use. Driveone Off, for example, is recommended to be “used for motorcycles, car wheels, bicycles, metals, plastics, etc.”
“Paints containing lead pose risks both in their application phase (as new paint) and once applied, giving rise to legacy issues that extend beyond the life of the painted surface due to chipping and deterioration or demolition of the painted surface,” according to the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (Lead Paint Alliance), which is co-led by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Exposure to lead can result in serious health effects, including permanent damage to the brain and the nervous system, renal impairment, chronic hypertension, and reproductive disorders for both women and men. It can affect the brain development of a child, causing lower intelligence quotient (IQ), behavioural changes such as reduced attention span and increased antisocial behaviour, and reduced educational attainment,” according to the WHO.
“There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects,” the WHO has stated.
To uphold the country’s lead paint ban from lead paint dumping, the EcoWaste Coalition and the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) are pushing for stronger measures to control the global trade of lead chromates, the most common lead-based pigments used in paint manufacturing, and finished products containing such pigments.
The DENR, Philippine Paint & Coatings Association, Inc. (PPCAI), IPEN, and the EcoWaste Coalition are partners of the Lead Paint Alliance.
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