Using International Standards for Lead Paint Analysis to Prevent Lead Exposure

EPA  has been working with international partners through the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (Alliance) to promote international standards for lead paint sampling and analysis in developing countries. The Alliance is a cooperative initiative jointly led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to prevent children’s exposure to lead from paints containing lead and to minimize occupational exposures to lead paint.

The United States banned lead in household paint in the 1970s, but over 100 countries globally still allow the manufacture, import and sale of lead in household paint. The goal of the Alliance is to promote lead paint laws in all countries to address this. 

As a result of the work of the Alliance, many countries are now taking steps to eliminate lead paint through the establishment of laws that set low limits on lead in paint to protect human health and the environment. To help with the development of effective and enforceable national laws around the world, EPA spearheaded the creation of a Model Law and Guidance for Regulating Lead Paint (Model Law) that provides suggested legal language that countries can use when drafting their own national laws. The guidance includes a list of internationally accepted standards, including test methods for lead paint analysis, (view the Model Law). This includes test methods developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and ASTM International (ISO 6503, 1513 and 1514, and ASTM E1645-16, E1979-17, E1613 and D3335-85a). 

Since the Model Law was published, an increasing number of countries are using it to draft and enact their own national lead paint laws, many of which include requirements for internationally accepted methods to test for lead in paint.