UN Environment, World Health Organisation, the US Environment Protection Agency and other partners have teamed up to assist Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan in the establishment and implementation of a regulation on lead paint.
#Georgia???????? has worked with @UNEP and passed a new law limiting lead in paint to 90 ppm!????⚖️
— UN Environment Programme Europe (@UNEP_Europe) April 20, 2021
Lead exposure can cause lifelong health problems. It's cheaper to #BanLeadPaint & promote alternatives than to clean up contaminated homes and schools.
Learn more????https://t.co/AsSczXAn6N pic.twitter.com/oeTIIBMEi6
The overall aim of the project is for 40 countries to establish legal limits to the lead content of paint and for at least 50 small and medium-sized paint manufacturers in eight countries to phase out lead.
In Europe, the work covers Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. We raise awareness on the dangers posed by lead paint and work with governments to set up a two-year plan to legislate against it", reads the press-release published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The UNEP says that every year, 600,000 children are born with mental disabilities after their mothers were exposed to lead paint. Lead exposure accounts for 540,000 deaths annually and 13.9 million years lost to disability and death due to long-term effects on health, with the highest burden on developing regions.
Lead can be closer to home than we may think. It can be found on children’s toys, for example. In our region, many Eastern European, Caucasian and Central Asian countries require tighter legislation to detect and ban lead paint, while other countries may still be producing and exporting it", says the UNEP.
The implementation of the project started in October 2018 and is due to be completed in October 2020.
The project is financed through the Global Environment Facility.