Why We Must Act Now
19-25, 2025 INITIATIVE
Restrict Lead Chromate: Sustaining Momentum for Lead-Free Communities
No safe level: act now and end lead exposure
Kenya is joining the global community, under the leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO)
and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), to mark the International Lead Poisoning Prevention
Week of Action (ILPPWA). This annual voluntary initiative is a critical moment to raise awareness about
the severe and irreversible health impacts of lead exposure, particularly in children. Lead exposure
from multiple sources, including lead paint, remains a major public health concern. The global vision of
the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future (PLF) is that every child must grow up free from lead exposure.
Lead is a prevalent neurotoxin, found throughout the environments where children live, learn, and play.
It can easily be found in the air they breathe, the water they drink, the soil they walk and crawl on, their
food, and even some toys. Kenya and the East Africa region have made significant steps, building on
the success of the global ban on lead in petrol in 2006. Particularly, we achieved a crucial milestone in
2018 with the establishment of a legal limit to phase out lead paint. However, challenges persist,
including the continued use of lead chromate in certain oil-based paints—specifically some shades of
yellow, green, and red residential paints, as well as yellow road marking paints—and the ongoing
exposure from peeling paints from structures that were previously lead painted.
The Event
The ILPPWA 2025 will be an exciting, focused, and high-impact campaign under the urgent theme: No
Safe Level: Act Now to End Lead Exposure. t emphasizes the necessity for immediate and decisive
action to protect children's health in their homes, schools, and playgrounds.
Key Activities
The campaign will feature a blended approach, prioritizing both digital awareness and practical action:
A dedicated digital platform will be the foundation for raising public awareness, ensuring key
information on all sources lead of exposure is shared widely through engaging content.
The week's main event will be a high-level interactive session at the Department of
Chemistry. Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Nairobi, presided over by
Her Excellency, the Second Lady of the Republic of Kenya.
The discussion will focus on addressing the alarming post-ban findings of high lead concentrations in
newly purchased paints, particularly in yellow, green, and red oil-based residential and yellow road
marking paints and toxicity of lead chromate and its unnecessary use.
A hands-on, practical session will demonstrate a safe repainting procedure on an old building.
The week will conclude with the recognition of organizations, individuals, and groups for their
outstanding contributions to ILPPWA initiatives, as well as the best-performing content on the digital
platform.
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Call to Action
We will invite all stakeholders, government ministries, paint manufacturers, health professionals,
educators, civil society and diverse media, to join this critical campaign and ensure a lead-free future
for all Kenyan children. These collective efforts will strengthen and secure long-term partnerships that
will support the complete phasing out of lead in all paints and consumer products and prevent ongoing
exposures.
Coordination
Dr. Faridah Hussein Were, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and
Technology of the University of Nairobi, an Advisory Council Member of Global Alliance to Eliminate
Lead in Paint and a National and Regional Technical Committee Chairman on Paint and Allied Product
Standard