"Lead-Laden Paint Still Widely Sold Around the World"

"Even as the US lowers the lead levels allowed in paint dramatically, paint with dangerously high lead levels is still being sold for household use worldwide, putting hundreds of millions of young children at risk of permanent brain damage, research out this month in the journal Environmental Research shows.

The sale of new paint containing more than 600 parts per million (ppm) of lead has been banned since 1978 in the US, which just this month dropped the permissible lead level in new paint to 90 ppm. While China, Singapore, and South Africa recently introduced limits on the lead content of household paints (and India has instituted a voluntary standard), there's strong evidence that high lead paint is still being sold in these and other countries, and used to paint homes, schools, toys and even playgrounds."

Anne Harding reports for Reuters August 25, 2009.