Hazardous paints invade the markets-CPA warns the public on health risks

The Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) has notified the public about the rising increase of imported paints which are not labelled and have no inscriptions and have warned that such paints can be hazardous and can be harmful to human health.

According to CPA, the said paints in barrels have no country of origin, specifications are brought into the country for repackaging into other paint buckets and containers without the approval from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).

Addressing the media on this worrying issues, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Consumer Protection Agency, Mr. Kofi Kapito has said such influx of paints are unlabeled and has the tendency to bring to bear health risks to humans lives as a result of the unspecified chemicals in the manufacturing process.

“These unlabeled paints are processed, repackaged and labelled as “American Paints” are sold and distributed in the local market,” he said, adding that products manufactured in the USA should not lack essentials labelling such as batch number, ingredients, expiring date and barcode for traceability.

The CEO said the Agency have noticed a growing trend of people mixing paints in homes, in front of shops, unfriendly environments and said the process can be hazardous if not supervised by the appropriate authorities.

He said such make shift operations are situated in communities and but pose health risks to both produces and the immediate surroundings and disclosed that the so called “American Paints” are fraudulent and are misleading consumers.

“The CPA is therefore calling on the EPA, GSA and other key players in the paint market to engage the Agency to crack down on these illegal paint producers and safeguard human health, “he said adding that compliance and safety regulations be applied in trading activities.