Letters re: warning label requirements for artists paints in Victoria, Australia

In March 2012, Elizabeth O’Brien received an enquiry from an importer of artists paint pigments in the Australian state of Victoria

LETTER ONE

From: Elizabeth O’Brien

Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 5:36 PM

To: Victorian artist’s paints importer

Subject: Fw: Info Pack 14 - VIC & Australia's legislation banning lead compounds in ALL industrial paints and inks

Dear David,

I’ve spent a number of hours researching your question today, but the best info I’ve found to date doesn’t actually answer it – thus my email below to DPU Victoria - Drugs and Poisons Unit, Department of Health, Victoria.

Hopefully they will provide an answer soon and then I will forward it to you.

In the meantime, we’ve extracted all the clauses on lead (and other metals) and paint from The Poisons Standard 2011 which consists of the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons No 2 (the SUSMP 2) [PREVIOUSLY SUSDP], in the file named: <Poisons Standard or SUSMP Extracts re Paint & Lead 20110802.doc>. You will note that graphic materials such as poster paint are specifically excluded from the definition of “paint”.

The Victorian “Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2006” do not call up / adopt the “Uniform Paint Standard” but nor do they mention the words artist or paint or ink or lead or pigment or graphic. So it will be interesting to receive the written advice from the Department of Health. And I will certainly reply to their email with feedback suggesting that they make it MUCH easier to find the list of poisons which their regulations cover.

I can totally understand why you had so much trouble finding the rules which relate to your proposed import of lead compounds for artist’s paints.

Cheers

Elizabeth O’Brien

Manager, Global Lead Advice & Support Service (GLASS) run by The LEAD Group Inc.

PO Box 161 Summer Hill NSW 2130 Australia

Ph +61 2 9716 0132

www.lead.org.au

We lead the way | We educate | We advocate | We'll work until the world's lead-safe

LETTER TWO

From: Elizabeth O’Brien

Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 4:40 PM

To: Victorian Drugs and Poisons Unit

Subject: Info Pack 14 - VIC & Australia's legislation banning lead compounds in ALL industrial paints and inks

Dear DPU Victoria,

As you may know, NICNAS has instituted a national ban on lead compounds in industrial paints and inks, but that ban of course excludes artists paints (since they are not industrial paints). Nevertheless, the ban has caused concern for a lead pigment exporter overseas when a Victorian artists paints manufacturer has tried to import lead pigments from the exporter. Can you please advise in writing, with exact reference to regulations and/or the SUSMP, as to whether it is legal to import lead compounds for artists paints in to Victoria?

When you send your answer, I will add it to the following text which forms the basis of this “Info Pack 14 - VIC & Australia's legislation banning lead compounds in ALL industrial paints and inks.”

The gazette notice about banning lead compounds in all industrial paints and inks imported into, made and sold in Australia as of 1st January 2010 is called: "NOTICE OF PROPOSED VARIATIONS TO THE AUSTRALIAN INVENTORY OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES (AICS) FOR CERTAIN LEAD COMPOUNDS IN INDUSTRIAL SURFACE COATINGS AND INKS" and can be found online on the website of the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) at:

http://www.nicnas.gov.au/publications/Chemical_Gazette/Chemical_Gazette_February_2008.asp

Comments from the Australian Paint Manufacturers Federation (APMF) can be found at http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/file/0004/68386/sub008.rtf (and a pdf version is attached), as well as a news article about the ban by the APMF which was originally web-published at http://www.apmf.asn.au/html/lead_in_paint.html but is no longer online, so is attached as a doc.

The above-mentioned 2007 APMF comments include the following:

Victoria: Department of Human Services

The Manager, Drugs and Poisons, Department of Human Services reported:

“The Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act.1981 does not adopt Appendix I Uniform Paint Standard of the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons”.

Yours Sincerely

Elizabeth O'Brien

Manager, Global Lead Advice & Support Service (GLASS) run by The LEAD Group Inc.

PO Box 161 Summer Hill NSW 2130 Australia

Ph +61 2 9716 0132 Freecall 1800 626086 www.lead.org.au

LETTER THREE

From: Drugs and Poisons Unit, Department of Health, Victoria

Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 3:43 AM

To: 'Victorian artist’s paints importer' ; mailto:Elizabeth O’Brien ; Cc: an Artists paint pigments exporter (outside of Australia)

Subject: RE: Info Pack 14 - VIC & Australia's legislation banning lead compounds in ALL industrial paints and inks

Hello all,

I based my initial question on The Australian Poison Standard, which does not seem to differentiate between industrial and consumer products.

Appendix C of this Standard is the ”List of poisons prohibited from sale, supply or use because of their known potential for harm to human and/or animal health”  What first caught my attention was the fact that Appendix C of the Poison Standards includes the entry:

LEAD COMPOUNDS in paints, tinters, inks or ink additives except in preparations containing 0.1 percent or less of lead calculated on the non-volatile content of the paint, tinter, ink or ink additive.

However, if by definition an artist paint is considered a “graphic material” as defined in the Standard’s Definitions as:

“Graphic material” means the material which is to be deposited on another material by a graphic instrument during writing, drawing or marking and includes cores of pencils, school pastels or crayons, blackboard chalks, finger or showcard colours, poster paints and watercolour blocks.

Then, it would not be caught by Appendix C, because “Graphic Materials” are excluded from the Standard’s definition of paint, which is:

“Paint”, without limiting the ordinary meaning, includes any substance used or intended to be used for application as a colouring or protective coating to any surface but does not include graphic material or paints for therapeutic use.

If Williamsburg Oil Colors are indeed Graphic Materials and Not Paint, then it appears they should be labeled as a Schedule 6 poison under the heading:

† LEAD COMPOUNDS

If so, then it appears the correct label would carry the following elements, based on the guidelines of the Standard:

POISON

KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN

Contains >30% LEAD

Avoid Eye and Skin Contact. Wash immediately with Soap and Water.

For advice, contact a Poisons Information Centre (e.g. phone Australia

131 126; New Zealand 0800 764 766) or a doctor (at once).

Please advise if you agree. If so, I will have these labels produced. If not, please provide your assessment and recommendations.

Sincerely,

[signed by

LETTER FOUR

From: Elizabeth O’Brien

Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 7:34 PM

To: an Artists paint pigments exporter (outside of Australia)

Cc: Drugs and Poisons Unit, Department of Health, Victoria

Subject: New suggestion for a warning label for artists paints

Dear Sir,

I would wait before printing up those labels! The Victorian regulations don’t adopt all of the Australian Poisons Standard 2011 so you will need to wait until DPU finds the exact clauses in their “Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2006” which relate to your question, before you can find out what wording to put on the labels. If another artists’ paints manufacturer in another Australian state or territory wants to import your pigments, you’d have to go through this same enquiry process with that jurisdiction. The various clauses of the Australian Poisons Standard only become mandatory IF they are adopted by the state or territory regulations. Regrettably, we don’t have your neat US system of federal regulations for issues like this. It’s all due to the Constitution....

It is my understanding that the only use that can be made of the Australian Poisons Standard in EVERY jurisdiction in Australia is in a litigation process where, let’s say, the lawyer representing an artist who had heavy metal poisoning because he habitually licked his brush to make a fine point, or held his brushes in his mouth, could argue that the state labelling regulations were too lax so the Poisons Standard, being more stringent, should have been implemented when labelling the artists’ paints.

You are very wise to be taking so much care to get the wording right. You’ve made me realize I should try to contact Robert Hannaford (pictured: Photo:Tubes by Robert Hannaford is a self-portrait of the artist struggling to overcome cancer.) You can read his story at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-01-04/hannaford-celebrates-art-and-life/1002598 and it includes: "It's most likely [Robert Hannaford's] cancer was caused by the lead and cadmium in the oil paints the artist absorbed by holding brushes in his mouth. A habit even his subjects [including ex Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating] warned him about." This all makes me wonder what the labelling requirements for artists paints are, in the state of South Australia (where Hannaford lives). I’ll have to look in to it.

And that brings me to another suggestion for you. Would there be any harm in David putting a warning on his products, in addition to the required warning, along the lines of: “POISON – These paints can cause heavy metal poisoning if even minute amounts are swallowed or absorbed through the skin. Do not hold your brushes in your mouth. Never use your lips or bare fingers to make a fine point on the brush. Don’t allow the paint to remain on your skin.”

In other words, the resulting warning label might be something like:

POISON

KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN

Contains >30% LEAD

This product can cause Heavy Metal Poisoning if even Minute Amounts are Swallowed or Absorbed through the Skin. Do not Hold your Brushes in your Mouth. Never use your Lips or Bare Fingers to make a Fine Point on the Brush. Don’t Allow the Paint to Remain on your Skin. Avoid Eye and Skin Contact. Wash immediately with Soap and Water.

For advice, contact a Poisons Information Centre (e.g. phone Australia 131 126; New Zealand 0800 764 766) or a doctor (at once).

I can send you our Info Pack on skin absorption of lead if you would like a copy.

Yours Sincerely

Elizabeth O'Brien

GLASS

www.lead.org.au

From: Victorian artist’s paints importer

Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 2:50 AM

To: an Artists paint pigments exporter (outside of Australia)

Subject: Fwd: Info Pack 14 - VIC & Australia's legislation banning lead compounds in ALL industrial paints and inks

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