Lead-based paint is hazardous to health. Most of the paint brands in India contain quite high quantities of lead. 
It is added to paint to make it durable. We can recollect how advertisements of paint promise to make the paint long lasting. What happens is that after a passage of time this paint poisons the air inside the house and also the soil around the house.
Lead-based paints are a major source of lead poisoning for children and can also affect adults. In children, lead poisoning can cause irreversible brain damage and can impair mental functioning. It can retard mental and physical development and reduce attention span. It can also retard fetal development even at extremely low levels of lead. In adults, it can cause irritability, poor muscle coordination, and nerve damage to the sense organs and nerves controlling the body. Lead poisoning may also cause problems with reproduction.
What is shocking is that paint manufacturers in India are aware of the drastic consequences of using lead above the limit set by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) but are yet not doing anything about it as the alternatives to lead make the products costlier. Further dismayal fact is that the Indian health department does not support lead testing of paints yet so all that can be done is to spray the surface with a sealant or cover it with gypsum wallboard. Covering the lead based paint is only a temporary solution and for a permanent solution the paint should be removed and replaced.
Via:HT
