Quezon City. The toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition pressed concerned chain stores to stop selling China-made YiAD Paint in breach of the country’s lead paint ban. It also asked its local distributor to ensure proper withdrawal of the noncompliant paints from the market and their immediate return to the manufacturer.
YiAD Paint stirred controversy over the unauthorized use of the image and signature of legendary boxer and former lawmaker Manny Pacquiao on its label, as exposed by the EcoWaste Coalition, which insinuates “celebrity endorsement” of the leaded paints.
According to Pacquiao’s legal counsel: “The continued use of Senator Pacquiao’s identity is not only unauthorized but also unlawful. It constitutes unauthorized commercial exploitation and misappropriation of his identity, placing Senator Pacquiao in a bad light, tarnishing his reputation as a responsible public servant, and undermining public trust in his name.”
In the monitoring it conducted on August 24 to 26, the group found YiAD Paint products on store shelves despite the order given by Pacquiao’s camp to YiAD Hardware Tools Co. Ltd. and Perfect Happy Star Corp. to, among other things, remove and withdraw all marketing, advertising, and packaging materials bearing his image and autograph.
During the time of monitoring, YiAD Paint products are still offered for sale in at least seven chain stores, namely Divimart, General Mariano Alvarez and Skymart, Trece Martires City, Cavite Province; 588 Shopping Mall, Apalit, Pampanga Province; 167 Hypermart and Divimart, Antipolo City, Rizal Province; PH Shop, Malabon City and PH Shop, Valenzuela City in Metro Manila. Previous monitoring also found YiAD Paints on sale at Skymart, Biñan City, Grandshoppe Center, Cabuyao City and 167 Shopper’s Mart, Calamba City, Laguna Province.
Among those on display were the seven YiAD Paint products that have been confirmed through laboratory tests as containing lead above the regulatory limit of 90 parts per million (ppm) such as the orange one (63,900 ppm), yellow (57,300 ppm), light green (45,500 ppm), green (39,000 ppm), pink (3,560 ppm), blue (5,290 ppm), and light sky blue (3,900 ppm).
The group called on the said chain stores, as well as other retail outlets, to voluntarily remove YiAD paint products from the shelves and bodegas and send them back to the local distributor for re-export to their manufacturer in China.
For transparency, the group also asked the local distributor to disclose how many units of YiAD Paint they have imported and how many have been recalled or withdrawn from retailers across the country.
Government regulators need to intervene and ensure the documented withdrawal of the paints in question so that these products, the leaded paints in particular, are not distributed further, sold and used by consumers who are not informed of the risks, the EcoWaste Coalition added.
As stated by the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (Lead Paint Alliance), “paint containing lead additives poses risks to health from poisoning and environmental contamination.” The alliance is a voluntary partnership formed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent exposure to lead through promoting the phase-out of paints containing lead.
“Childhood lead poisoning, also during pregnancy, can have lifelong health impacts including learning disabilities, anemia, and disorders in coordination, visual, spatial and language skills,” the alliance said, noting “there is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe for adults or children.”
