Spray paint cans could be harmful too, if you're not paying attention to what you're buying.

The EcoWaste Coalition bared that some 13 spray paint can products with lead content ranging from 4,500 to 56,100 parts per million (ppm) are being sold to consumers by both offline and online retailers.

The environmental group said this is "in brazen violation of the country’s lead paint regulation limiting lead to a maximum of 90 ppm."

“Our latest market investigation conducted amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic netted 13 more spray paints with exceedingly high levels of lead that can present a serious health hazard over time,” Thony Dizon, chemical safety campaigner of EcoWaste Coalition said in a statement Monday, March 22.

“The authorities need to act with dispatch to ensure that these dangerous products are removed from the market and returned to their suppliers for environmentally sound disposal," he said.

This brings the total number of lead-laced aerosol paints uncovered by the group to 50, noting its discovery of 37 similar products last year that were subsequently banned by authorities. None of the 50 lead-containing spray paint brands came from companies affiliated to the Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers (PAPM).

EcoWaste Coalition identified the 13 latest non-compliant spray paint can variations as the following: F1 Aerosol Spray Paint (leaf green), 56,100 ppm; Colorz Chisai Acrylic Spray Paint (lemon yellow), 55, 200 ppm; F1 Aerosol Spray Paint (medium yellow), 50,800 ppm;  Veslee Aerosol Paint (lemon yellow), 45,900 ppm; Super 7 Acrylic Spray Paint (yellow), 31,200 ppm; Veslee Aerosol Paint (green grass), 22,400 ppm; Colorz Chisai Acrylic Spray Paint (fresh green), 18,600 ppm; Super 7 Acrylic Spray Paint (leaf green), 13,100 ppm; F1 Aerosol Spray Paint (fluorescent orange yellow), 11,500 ppm;  MR. D.I.Y. Spray Paint (orange), 10,400 ppm; MR. D.I.Y. Spray Paint (sugar cane), 8,910 ppm; MR. D.I.Y. Spray Paint (apple green), 6,820 ppm; and Sanvo Aerosol Paint (green grass), 4,500 ppm.

Of the 13 products, 10 were found to contain dangerously high levels of lead exceeding 10,000 ppm. Also, eight of the 13 paints lacked information about their manufacturers, the group said.

“Lead paint chips and dust are formed when a surface covered with lead paint ages, peels and breaks. Children are exposed to lead when they eat such paint chips or swallow or breathe in lead dust, which can affect their developing brains and cause reduced intelligence, learning ability and attention span, as well as increased risk of behavioral problems such as aggressiveness, bullying and violence,” said environmental health scientist Dr. Geminn Louis C. Apostol, Assistant Professor at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health. 

“Health experts have not determined any level of lead exposure that is deemed safe and without detrimental effects," added Apostol.

Lead compounds were previously added to paint formulations to add color, quicken the drying process, inhibit rust, and increase durability, the EcoWaste Coalition said. Most paint manufacturers in the country have already switched to alternative ingredients to conform to the regulation.