RightOnCanada.ca

Kathleen Ruff, RightOnCanada.ca

Dominion Colour Corporation, based in Toronto, is the world’s largest manufacturer of lead chromate pigments. The company is continuing to sell and export lead-based pigments for use in inks, paints, plastics and ceramics in spite of the well-documented scientific evidence that exposure to lead-containing paint causes grave harm to health, particularly to the health of children, as well as to workers.

In a letter sent to the President and CEO of Dominion Colour Corporation, Mike Klein, on November 24, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and a number of other health, environmental and human rights organisations have asked the company to stop producing and selling lead-containing pigments for use in inks, paints, plastics, and ceramics.

While use of lead-containing paint has long been ended in numerous countries, it continues to be sold in many countries in the global South, creating a risk of lead poisoning. Consequently, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme have initiated the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint, noting that lead is one of ten chemicals of major public health concern. More than 120 countries have joined this campaign.

Both the Canadian Paint and Coatings Association and the International Paint and Printing Ink Council support the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint. Dominion Colour Corporation, a lead player in the industry, has not however, to date, given its support to the campaign, continues to sell lead-containing pigments and is opposing measures to stop the use of lead-containing pigments.

In their letter, the health advocates ask the President of Dominion Colour Corporation to respond to their request by December 19.