Firms Reassure Consumers About Mercury in Paints

Paint companies scrambled to alleviate consumer fears Friday over reports that mercury in interior latex paint can be harmful. Several of the companies said they have not used mercury for years.

The Environmental Protection Agency barred manufacturers from adding mercury to paint after Aug. 20. Paint made before then may still be sold, however.

But the furor followed reports this week of a study that found relatively high levels of mercury in people whose homes were painted inside with latex paint containing mercury.

The study, conducted in 1989, was published in Thursday’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Concern about mercury in paint arose last year after a 4-year-old Michigan boy suffered mercury poisoning when his home was painted. He suffered severe rashes, itching, sweating and a personality change.

The EPA’s 24-hour hot line for paint information--the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network at 1-800-858-7378--reported a record 900 calls on the issue on Thursday.

A trade group for 550 manufacturers, including some of the nation’s largest, noted that paint used in the study and to which the boy was exposed contained nearly three times as much mercury as the EPA recommended at the time. The paint was made by the Mercury Paint Co. of Detroit, Mich.

“It was almost certainly at the high end,” said Marilyn Ludwig, spokeswoman for the National Paint & Coatings Assn. in Washington.

“Vague directives” led the EPA to declare Mercury Paint’s mercury levels to be an “unenforceable action,” agency spokesman Al Heier said.

A telephone call Friday to Charles Soberman, president and owner of Mercury Paint, was not returned.

Most uses of mercury were banned in the mid-1970s, except in paint. Manufacturers had convinced the EPA that they didn’t have a good alternative to mercury, Heier said. The element is used to preserve the paint in the can and prevent mildew after application.

The EPA estimates that, before the recent ban, up to 30% of interior latex paint contained mercury. But the industry association believes just 10% to 15% contained the element, Ludwig said.

Consumers who own paint bought before the ban should call the manufacturer to determine if it contains mercury, she said.