Document vVOzwmYMDxMQpd6JXOn2wnjvw

FDA Adopts 0.06 Lead Limitation, Effective Jan. 1,1974--Industry Ponders Fate Washington, D.C.. Mart'll 14 --The Coatings Industry today still was shak ing from the action March JO of the Food and Drug Administration in ban ning all except trace amounts of lend in paint by the end of 197,1. It also was speculating that the. current Senate, i onsideratlon of a load-banning bill might lean toward adopt inn within that body of perhaps even more stringent legislation. The FDA ordered reduction of lead m paint to five tenths of one per cent by January 1. 1973, mid to 0.06 per rent by the end of 1973. Of special significance was the fact that, ns adopted, the. regulation applies to alt paints or coatings used around the household -- which means interior or exterior. Sub-chapter D of Tiilo 21--Foml nnd Drugs, tho section in which the regula tion is now included, contains the fol lowing descriptive phrase: "Any paint or other similar surface coating mate rial Intended, or packaged in a form suitable, for use in or around tho house hold.'' Paint industry spokesmen said the federal action would lead to increased prices of paint and might force.many retailers nnd small manufacturers out of business. Meanwhile, Robert A. Roland, execu tive vice president of the National Paint and Coatings Association, told a Senate FRED SCHULENBERG BRANCH OFFICES Editor ABEL BANOV Senior Editor E. L. Belov - - - John Ropers Associate Editors Now York (10017): Edward Solos. Manager; W. <3. Engclmoon (Ncur Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Eastern Pa.), 370 Lexington Ave.y Suite 813, Pnone, 212-533-7753. Chicago (60611)-. Jack O. Ncslage, Menopet, 262 East Illinois Street, Phono, 312-644-7844. Cleveland, O. (44122): Conoid W. Huettner, 22081 Rye Road, Shaker Heights, O., Phone, 210-991-1220. Glendale, Cat (91203): Don llnrway 8i Co., 401 North Brand Blvd., Phone, 213-245-9421. Publishers also of AMERICAN PAINT AND WALLCOVERINGS DEALER and AMERICAN PMNTING_CONTRACTOR- Foundad in 1916 by Allen W. Clark A. F. VOSS, JR., Praldcnt W. C, VOSS, Vice-President EDWARD SALAS, Vice-President C. M. CAMPBELL, Secretory '1arch 20. 1972 7 * o / Subcommittee March 0 that reducing the allowable lead content of household paints to 0.08 per cent "will do nothing toward correcting the present, idcntl* lied and real causes of lead poisoning in children today." Testifying before the Subcommittee on Health of the Senate Committee on I-dibor and Public Welfare, Mr. Roland Identified pre-World War II paints, containing more than 60 per cent whito lead, as the major cause of today's lead poisoning problem. It is "most unfor tunate," he added, "that the subject of lead In modern paints seems to be get ting more attention today from the Congress, the Federal agencies and many public health officials than the real problem." Existing causes of lead poisoning can be corrected, Mr. ltoland said, if funds nre provided to: (1) medically screen and treat pre-school age children in the inner city: (2) remove or seal off old paint containing excessive lead levels from low-cost and ghetto dwellings: and (3) conduct research to determine scientifically a safe content for lead in paints. Explaining that there is pres ently Insufficient (lata showing Unit the use of 1.0 per cent lead--now used In modern interior paints--is hazardous, the NPCA executive stressed that to reduce the lead level to 0.00 per cent would be to "condemn" a product which "has never been tested!" He termed a "common misconcep tion" the belief that all manufacturers can easily remove the lead from their products. "The problem of removing all but trace amounts of lead from paint Is a monumental one indeed,'' lie stated. To reach the 0.00 per cent lend level, manufacturers would have to use "pharmaceutical-type" analysis of all their raw materials. "What nil this could easily add up to is poorer per forming products, costing move money to manufacture, and consequently, move to buy in the market place." Calling the 0.06 per cent standard al most impossible to enforce, Mr. Roland explained that much money and effort could he spent by Federal, Btate, and local officials In "trying to enforce an unreasonable lead limit that has, in no instance, been shown to be necessary for safety." Tho Answer May Be Within Reach A strong potential exists that work done 20 years ago by Dr. Raymond R. Myers, now head of the chemistry deportment at Kent State University and director of Point Research Institute, will lead to help in furnishing driers to replace lead ond to overcoming loss-of-diy pinbloms. Dr. Myers in 1C53 reported develop ment of amines with double-bound nitro gen, know ns Schiff-hnsrs, that serve os a complcxing agent with manganese to create driers that tire fast and throughdrying. Tho trouble is Hint they have never been put roinx>letc!y through the full com mercial-developments routine, with test fences, stielf-tife determinations, methods of formulation, and till tho othor steps necessary before paint companies can put them on the market without fear of wrecking ttie integrity of their good names. (At the time of discovery, the industry didn't need them. Now it may.) Theso amine complcxing agents linvo ono thing in common with o - phononthrolono, the through-dry aid mentioned previously--both have double-bound nitro gen In tho molecule. The difference is that plienaritiirulcne has its nitrogen pre sent ill on aromatic configuration ond Dr. Myer's discovery is aliphatic. Dr. Myers estimates that a full-fledged development program for tho material, utilizing existing research facilities, would require a minimum of a year. 8 ' * Anicricnn Puint Journal !. i