UN Environment: Lead-containing paint is threatening the health of children and pregnant women

On the 22nd, the United Nations Environment Programme issued a report at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, stating that the health of children and pregnant women in developing countries still faces severe threats from paint containing lead and other toxins.　　 The spokesperson of the United Nations Environment Programme and Director of the Information Department Nick Natol said that the World Health Organization estimates that the number of new intellectual disabilities caused by children’s lead exposure is estimated to be about 600,000 per year. Peter Gilruth, director of the Early Warning and Assessment Division of the United Nations Environment Programme, said at the report conference: 'Lead pollution is an emerging environmental pollution, and lead-containing paint can cause harm to the health of pregnant women and children.' Gilruth called on the legislature. Intensify efforts to stop the production of lead paints, and at the same time call on the public to pay attention to the environmental and health hazards caused by lead paints.　　 The report pointed out that reducing the health threat of lead-containing paint requires the establishment of a regulatory framework and voluntary actions. Worldwide, 30 countries have phased out the use of lead paint. The Global Alliance for the Elimination of Lead Paints, jointly led by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, has set a goal to promote the phase-out of lead paint to 70 countries by 2015.