Lead levels prompt ban on unregistered water colour paint

The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the sale of unregistered water colour paint after finding some of them with lead levels way higher than permissible, drawing praise from the environmental watchdog that first drew attention to the presence of some brands in the market.
FDA Director General Kenneth Hartigan-Go said in an advisory that samples of unregistered water colour paints from the Merriam Webster Bookstore on Carvajal St, Binondo, Manila and VMZ Bookstore at Guadalupe Shopping Center in Makati showed lead, "beyond the maximum tolerable limit of 90ppm (parts per million)” or at levels ranging from 30 to 50 times more than what is deemed safe.
"The sample of Artex Fine Water Color manufactured by Venus Commercial Co located at 10 University Ave, Malabon City, collected from Merriam Webster Bookstore outlet showed that the yellow water colour paints contained 3,342.41ppm,” Go said, adding that those coming from VMZ Bookstore showed 5,089.42ppm.
Laboratory tests were done by the FDA Central Laboratory in collaboration with the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) and a non-government organisation (NGO), which performed initial screening for lead using a handheld X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) device
The FDA advisory said lead accumulates slowly in the body when ingested over prolonged periods of time. Lead may be deposited in the bones and teeth, may be found in blood and can cause serious damage to the kidneys and the blood.