A waste and pollution watch group exhorted the country’s public elementary and secondary schools to make lead safety part of the annual Brigada Eskwela on May 28 to June 2.
In line with Department Order No. 4 issued by Education Secretary Leonor Briones, EcoWaste Coalition urged school heads to ensure full compliance to the “mandatory use of lead-safe paints in schools.”
DepEd issued the order at the request of the EcoWaste Coalition to prevent and control children’s exposure to lead through the ingestion of lead-contaminated paint chip, dust and soil in schools.
In December, Briones issued Department Order No. 64 detailing the minimum performance standards and specifications for DepEd school buildings. “Paint materials must be independently certified lead-safe paints/coatings,” Briones said in her order.
“Strict compliance to these orders is crucial to stop the entry and use of lead-containing architectural, decorative and household paints in all schools following the completion of the three-year phase-out for such paints last December 2016,” said Thony Dizon, chemical safety campaigner of EcoWaste Coalition.
“The effective enforcement of these orders will also help in reducing the creation and dispersion of lead-tainted paint chip, dust and soil from the Brigada Eskwela school cleanup and renovation activities that children may ingest or inhale,” he added.
Exposure to lead can permanently damage the brain and the central nervous system, impair growth and development, and cause learning and behavioral problems, the coalition warned.
“As there is no safe threshold for lead exposure, we need to pay serious attention on eliminating preventable lead pollution sources such as lead-containing paints in our homes, schools and communities,” Dizon said.