Ivory Coast: Children face serious health risks from lead in paint

The effects of lead poisoning can creep up slowly and invisibly. Growing children are most at risk, as exposure can affect their developing brain and other organs. Symptoms of poisoning can be hard to detect, and Ivory Coast is raising awareness in communities about the everyday items that carry a risk. Teams from the Ivorian Consumers Association are going door-to-door testing homes for lead paint. I use this device here, then I try to scan it. And we see that it lights up green. That means there's lead in the paint. We decided to run this campaign to raise consumer awareness about the dangers of lead in paints. What do you use in your own home? Do these products have an impact on your life? Lead paint is banned in the US and for consumers in Europe, but it's weakly regulated across Africa. In Ivory Coast, lead-based products are still easily found on store shelves. In the latest analysis carried out a few months ago, we found that out of 64 paints tested, 21 still contained high levels of lead. In one recent pilot, Ivorian researchers recorded hazardous levels of lead in children they tested, up to 5 to 10 times higher than levels found in children tested in studies in France or the US. Children are the first victims because during the early years of their development they are often on the floor, crawling on all fours and putting their hands to their mouths. Consequently, they ingest any flaking paint or paint dust and the lead then accumulates in their skeletons and bones and this affects their cognitive development. Lead poisoning raises the risk of adults developing cardiovascular diseases. Ivory Coast is in the process of introducing a mandate limiting lead levels in commercial paints to thresholds set by the World Health Organization. But regulatory changes only go so far. Authorities are also facing longer-term hurdles in enforcing the rule changes and keeping up work to raise public understanding of the risks.