“IPPIC notes the long-standing effectiveness of lead-use restrictions that are already in place in many jurisdictions around the world and recommends their widespread adoption by authorities not currently regulating the use of lead in paint and printing ink. To this end, IPPIC supports the UN’s Lead Paint Alliance “Model Law”, as a useful starting point for both government and industry to collaborate on developing restrictions that ensure widespread and verifiable compliance.”

The Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (Lead Paint Alliance or the Alliance) is co-led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Information about the Alliance can be found on its official webpage. The working arrangements for the Lead Paint Alliance are described in its Operational Framework. The work of the Lead Paint Alliance is promoted by partners1 to the Alliance. Partners are stakeholders such as governments, non-governmental civil society organizations, paint producers and paint industry trade associations, academic experts and other UN organizations that have applied to UN Environment and WHO and have been accepted as partners by both Organizations according to an agreed procedure. Approved partners are listed on the Alliance website on the Partners page. An Advisory Council2 oversees the work of the Alliance and members are drawn from Alliance partners. The Advisory Council is chaired by a government partner., and members reflect the diverse types of stakeholders.

The Lead Paint Alliance is a voluntary collaborative initiative to focus and catalyse the efforts of a diverse range of stakeholders to achieve international goals to prevent children’s exposure to lead from paint and to minimize occupational exposures to lead paint. The Alliance is convened under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Antibiotic pharmaceuticals are used around the world to treat and prevent bacterial infections in humans, animals and even plants. They have also been used widely as growth promoters to increase meat production, although this practice was banned in the European Union in 2006. While the misuse of antibiotics in medical and agricultural practices has been linked to increasing resistance, the role of the natural environment in the emergence and spread of resistance has received relatively little attention.