(Another mislabeled “no Pb” paint brand found contaminated with toxic lead)
10 September 2025, Quezon City. Imported paints containing high concentrations of lead, a neurotoxin and endocrine-disrupting chemical, continue to enter the country’s ports, prompting an environmental health and justice group to deplore the uninhibited dumping of such dangerous products.
The EcoWaste Coalition denounced the illicit trade following its discovery of a new paint brand called Easyman Spray Paint All Purpose Enamel that claims to contain “no Pb” (the chemical symbol for lead from the Latin plumbum) even if it is laden with lead way in excess of the legal limit of 90 parts per million (ppm).
Leaded paints like this one keep appearing on store shelves as if there is no ban in place.
The importation, distribution and sale of lead-containing Easyman Spray Paints violate DENR A.O. 2013-24 banning lead use in paints, the group pointed out. The mislabeling of such paints as containing no lead when in fact it has lead is a deceptive, unfair and unconscionable act that goes against RA 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines, it added. Consumers have the right to be protected against fraudulent claims and unsafe products, as well as the right to be provided with facts needed to make an informed choice, it insisted.
EcoWaste purchased the said paints manufactured in June 2025 for P99 to P120 each for 400 cc can from retail stores in Hagonoy, Bulacan and Quezon City and subsequently screened them for lead with the aid of an Olympus Vanta M Series X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), a scientific device.
XRF screening finds lead in excess of 100,000 ppm on this yellow Easyman Spray Paint.
The label gave no information about the product manufacturer, country of manufacture or local distributor. However, the precautions and usage instructions are provided in English, Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Thai. The Spanish text, as translated, states that “Easyman Spray Paint is a non-toxic product that does not contain lead.”
