LEEP and MBS study

Lead exposure has severe negative health impacts, particularly on children. It causes permanent damage to their cognitive development, worsening their educational outcomes and future potential. Later in life, lead exposure causes hypertension and heart disease. Lead poisoning from paint and from other sources is estimated to affect 3.4 million children in Malawi, costing the country $878 million in lost earnings every year. 

LEEP and the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) conducted a new study to assess the effect so far of LEEP and MBS’s work to eliminate lead in paint in Malawi.

In September 2023 LEEP and MBS purchased 20 cans of home-use solvent-based paint from paint shops and hardware stores in Blantyre. We used the same testing method as previous LEEP studies – purchasing white, red and yellow oil-based paints for each brand, where available – summarised in our past blog post and set out in more detail in Kambarami et al. (2022) and Siddiqui et al. (2023).

Results summary

Encouragingly, the research found that paint manufacturers have made progress towards ending the use of lead in Malawi’s paint. 

Malawi has a mandatory standard stating that there shall be no lead in paint. The minimum reporting limit on the laboratory test used by LEEP is 60 ppm, which is below the 90 ppm limit recommended by the WHO and UNEP. 

Directly comparing the same paints that were sampled in the 2021 study to the 2023 study, the percentage that contained detected lead (60 ppm or above) had reduced from 60% to 33%.

Of the 2023 samples that were not directly comparable to the 2021 study, four contained detected lead, and one had no detected lead. The full results of both studies are provided in the Appendix below.

Based on discussions with the manufacturers and with paint sellers, we estimated the market shares of the different brands. These estimates are approximate and there was no comprehensive market data available. We estimated each brand’s share of the entire paint market by volume, not the market for a specific type or colour of paint. Taking into account this data, the results suggest that the market share of brands selling lead paint for home use has reduced from approximately 67% to 24%.

Lead status and estimated market share of brands in the 2021 and 2023 studies. Lead was not detected in the Brand C samples in 2023, and most other brands have publicly committed to moving to lead-free by mid-2024 (including Brand E, which reported that it moved to lead-free in November 2023).

Manufacturers

LEEP has engaged with the paint manufacturers in Malawi to explain the health impacts of lead paint and how manufacturers can remove lead from their paint. 

We have identified replacement lead-free raw materials, in particular pigments and driers, and have supported the manufacturers in finding supply routes for those materials into Malawi. Our paint technologist has provided guidance on using the lead-free pigments, and we are offering free one-to-one technical support to manufacturers as they switch to those lead-free raw materials.

Our new study did not detect lead in the samples from Rainbow and Plascon,* estimated to be Malawi’s two most popular brands, with approximate market shares of 45% and 30% respectively. Rainbow previously had high levels of lead, and reformulated following LEEP’s engagement. 

We still found, though, that five smaller brands were using lead. We expect several of these to move to lead-free in the coming months. Medal (manufactured by Rainbow Paints Ltd) has told us that it has already moved to lead-free since the study. Monolux (manufactured by Monolux Paints Ltd), Crown (manufactured by Valmore Paints Ltd) and Tropical (manufactured by OG Paints Ltd) have publicly committed to moving to lead-free. And we continue to engage with Coral (manufactured by Insignia Africa Ltd), the other brand in which we found high lead. LEEP expects to carry out further testing next year to confirm that the remaining manufacturers have switched to lead-free.

Government partnership

Since finding high levels of lead in Malawi’s paint in 2021, LEEP and MBS have worked in close partnership to address this problem.

MBS has built improved testing capacity in its new laboratory complex, strengthened auditing processes, and has taken steps to update the standards limiting lead in paint.

Media

Five major media outlets in Malawi covered the study results: Nyasa Times, The Nation, Zodiak, Maravi Express, Kulinji.

Examples of media coverage of LEEP and MBS’s study.

Next steps

MBS plans to undertake regular further testing, with support from LEEP, to ensure that the remaining manufacturers using lead transition to lead-free.

LEEP will continue assisting the manufacturers with finding suitable lead-free pigments and offering free technical support with adjusting their paint formulations.

Acknowledgements

LEEP would like to thank the dedicated and expert team at the Malawi Bureau of Standards for their close ongoing partnership.

* Note to consumers

LEEP uses the term “lead-free” to refer to lead concentrations below the relevant threshold, in this case the 60 ppm minimum reporting limit. LEEP tests yellow and red oil-based paints because high concentrations of lead in paint are most likely to originate from the yellow and red pigments used in oil-based paints. LEEP cannot, however, guarantee that any one brand has safe levels of lead in all of its paints. This is because we have not tested all types and colours of paint from each brand, and our testing does not capture subsequent changes a manufacturer might make to its paint formulation.

Appendix

The following table shows the lead concentrations of the paints tested in 2021 and 2023. 

We aimed to test the yellow, red and white colours of each brand’s oil-based paint. Where no data is shown, this indicates that the paint was not available or was discontinued. Where a similar colour from the same brand was available, this is included instead.

Lead concentrations of oil-based paints tested in 2021 and 2023.