Government Begins Enforcement of Lead Paint Regulations
Sia Lucy Kannah The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that Sierra Leone’s Lead Paint Regulations 2025 are now in force and will be enforced following the completion of a one-year moratorium period.
The regulations, passed into law by Parliament in March 2025, establish a legal limit of 90 parts per million (ppm) for total lead content in all paint manufactured, imported or sold in Sierra Leone.
With the introduction of the regulations, Sierra Leone becomes one of the first Anglophone African countries to adopt national lead paint controls in line with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regulation C/REG.13/07/23, adopted in 2023.
The move is aimed at protecting public health, particularly children, from lead exposure. There is no known safe level of lead exposure, and the substance can cause permanent damage to children’s developing brains, lower their intelligence quotient (IQ) and affect their learning and behaviour, even at low levels.
The regulations follow a 2024 study conducted by the EPA in partnership with the Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP), which found that nearly one in four paint samples tested in Freetown contained hazardous levels of lead. One of the study’s key recommendations was the introduction of a legal limit of 90 ppm for total lead content in paint.
To strengthen enforcement, 18 EPA staff completed a four-day training programme in July 2026 on the use of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysers, which can detect lead in paint within seconds. The training has equipped the agency with in-house capacity to test paint products on the market and identify those that do not comply with the regulations.
A follow-up market survey conducted by the EPA in July 2026, with support from LEEP, found that all 23 paint brands sampled had lead levels below the national limit of 90 ppm, indicating a significant improvement compared to the findings of the 2024 study.
The EPA said it would continue monitoring paint products on the market, including imported brands, through regular inspections.
In marking this year’s International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (ILPPW), under the theme “From Detection to Prevention”, the agency has urged the public to purchase paint from manufacturers and suppliers that comply with the regulations.
The enforcement exercise will be carried out in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau, Customs Department, National Revenue Authority, Sierra Leone Police, and the Ministries of Trade and Industry and Transport and Aviation.
The EPA has reaffirmed its commitment to enforcing the regulations and strengthening measures to protect public health and the environment from the dangers of lead exposure.