New project to help Georgia establish, implement regulation on lead paint
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. Photo: UNEP.
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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.
The Adjara government in western Georgia, with the support of UNICEF Georgia, has launched a pilot project to investigate the source of lead exposure in children between two and seven years of age.
The Georgian Health Ministry will create a programme to help children with high lead levels in their blood and will also provide a long-term plan to combat the problem, head of the National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze said.
The lead level in children’s blood has gone down, the Head of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Amiran Gamkrelidze stated today.
The first nationwide survey has been released, with 1,578 children tested, which reads that 41 per cent of Georgian children have elevated blood levels of lead. The study was conducted between September and December 2018 as part of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), the largest household survey worldwide in which Georgia participated.
August 2021 marks 27 years of relations between Georgia and Tajikistan as the independent states. Ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan to Georgia Rustam Soli has written the blog for Agenda.ge observing the current relations and the further perspectives of collaboration.
A children’s nail polish set, a xylophone and eight types of slimes are among 77 toys suspended from sale on the domestic market after an inspection revealed lead, peeling paint and other issues with the items, local media outlet Interpressnews reported on Monday.