Duracoat is lead safe paint was the message by Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute during the third annual Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 2015 held at Our Lady of Mercy Primary School. The event brought together various stakeholders in the industry working together to create awareness on the harmful effects of Lead for the third year.

Speaking during the event, Basco Paints Managing Director, Mr. Kamlesh Shah said that he was happy to be part of the solution to the Lead issue in the country and also urged other paint manufacturers to follow suit. He added that, “as a responsible corporate entity, we are aware of the harmful effects of Lead and begun our journey back in 1999 when we phased out Lead driers from all our products.”

KIRDI working in partnership with UNEP and other organizations and government ministries have for the last three years been making concerted efforts to urge paint manufacturers to transition their production into Lead Safe paint. Basco Paints is proud to have voluntarily transitioned to Lead Safe paint in the Duracoat Decoratives range in the year 2013, seven years ahead of the global deadline for manufacturers.

Duracoat Paints that were to be donated to Our Lady of Mercy Primary School during the occasion were initially tested by KIRDI in three independent labs which all certified the paint to be Lead safe. The findings confirmed that the lead levels in the Duracoat Paints were well below globally acceptable levels which are 90 parts per million (ppm); the tested paints had levels between 0.02 and 0.05ppm of lead in them.

Some of the adverse effects of Lead include mild mental retardation, intellectual disabilities, and cardiovascular diseases among other health complications. The WHO and UNEP formed the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead in Paint (GAELP) to champion the global efforts and ensure that by 2020 all lead in paint has been phased out. Locally they have been working with KIRDI to achieve this goal by carrying out awareness every last week of October.