Cebu City Barbecue Vendors May Be Using Paint Brushes With Toxic Lead Content

[Medic Mike]

The metal in paint brushes may contain lead and flake off, contaminating food like barbecue where many vendors use store-bought brushes to baste meat on the grill like this barbecue stall in P. del Rosario Street, Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)

 

Ramil tends to his grill on P. del Rosario Avenue in Cebu City.

After 6 p.m. customers start lining up to buy sticks of sizzling meat barbecue for supper.

The vendor uses a small paintbrush to baste the pieces of chicken pork, chorizo and hotdogs with a mixture of cooking oil and spices.

The brush, commonly used by barbecue vendors, is a convenient, inexpensive tool.

What he may not know is that several hardware store-bought paintbrushes are made with lead, a toxic metal.

Environment watchdogs sounded the alarm on potential lead contamination of Cebu City’s famed barbecue trade after finding street vendors in the Carbon Market area applying basting sauce on chicken and pork barbecue with paintbrushes that are supposed to be used to apply paint, not for contact with food.

A hand-held X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) device was used to check paintbrushes purchased in six Cebu city hardware stores.

“Our joint investigation with the Cebu-based Philippine Earth Justice Center proves that paintbrushes often used for greasing barbecue contain elevated levels of lead,” said Thony Dizon, coordinator of the Quezon City-based EcoWaste Coalition.

Out of 19 paint brushes, 16 were found to contain lead at levels way above the tolerable limit of 90 parts of million (ppm) set by the United States for lead in paints and surface coatings.

They contained lead in the range of 309 parts per million (ppm) to 10,500 ppm.  The brushes of different sizes sold for  P5 to P119.

Dizon said the results raise the possibility of the basting sauce of streetfood barbecue being contaminated with lead from the paint brushes, especially if the metal part of the brushes have started to flake from frequent use.

Ramil, whose barbecue stall draws many customers with its location near boarding houses, a university and a bus terminal, said he had heard that using a paintbrush has its risks.

“Sauna raman ko nakabalo ana kay naa daw kuyaw nga chemical nga naa sa brush.  Pero, mo sunod ra sad ko kung unsay paliton sa tag-iya,” Ramil told Cebu Daily News.
(I heard before that it’s not safe because there are chemicals in the brush.  But I just follow what the store owner gives to me for use.)

As night falls, customers crowd around the grill looking for a hot meal.

His paintbrush is soaked in a small plastic container of cooking oil and flavoring.

Cebu Daily News bought a  stick of longaniza (sausage) links for P22.

A coworker, John, used the small brush to apply cooking oil smoothly on  each side. The faded label on the paintbrush made it difficult to read the brand.

After five minutes on the grill,  the longaniza was cooked. Customers bring it inside the store to eat or ask for  ketchup and hot sauce, which a female cashier applies on the food with another paintbrush.

TANGLAD BRUSH

Not all barbecue vendors do the same.

Another vendor in T. Padilla uses a safer method by making her own brush of lemon grass (“tanglad”) leaves. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)

 

A nature-based, cheap alternative is available.

In T. Padilla Street,  38-year-old vendor Mercelita dela Cruz makes her own brush out of a bundle of tanglad (lemon grass) leaves.

Dela Cruz, who’s been in the business for almost 12 years, said she used to handle a paintbrush for basting when she was still operating two years ago in Larsian, Cebu City’s famous streetfood barbecue center near Fuente Osmeña.

“We were told in a seminar of the Cebu City Health Department that it wasn’t safe to use paintbrushes so I decided to use tanglad leaves instead,” she said.

The leaves are tied with plastic string and is replaced every two days.

She said a paintbrush would turn rusty after constant use.

She also got complaints from customers who were afraid the brush had been in contact with hazardous chemicals.

“Makuyawan sad ta ana kay ang ako sad gihuna-huna ang safety sad sa akong mga customers,” she added.
(I would also get worried because I also think of the safety of my customers.)

The test results by independent environment groups showed the risk was real.

“The results of our probe should prompt the authorities to initiate an information drive regarding the hazards of misusing lead-containing products, especially for food preparations,” said lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, PEJC coordinator in Cebu.

CALL TO ACTION
“We also hope that our findings will induce hardware stores to demand lead-free paints and paintbrushes from their suppliers in order to safeguard public health,” she added.

The groups also urged the City Council to craft an ordinance that will ban the use of paintbrushes for food applications as a precaution against lead contamination, which could result in adverse health effects, especially among children.

None of the paintbrushes had warning labels or identified the lead content.

There was no caution given that the paintbrushes  should not be used when preparing food.

 

http://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/2014/06/22/cebu-city-barbecue-vendors-may-be-using-paint-brushes-with-toxic-lead-content/

Edited June 23, 2014 by Medic Mike

[MikeB]

I thought this story sounded familiar. This was first reported almost a year ago. Guess not much progress has been made.

http://www.philippines-expats.com/topic/16688-hold-the-turpentine-please/

[Medic Mike]

DOH: Use leaves, not paintbrush on barbecue

The Department of Health (DOH-7) supports the Ecowaste Coalition’s campaign against the use of paintbrushes which would be tainted with lead for food preparations.

Dr. Guy Perez, head of Health Facilities Development Section of DOH-7 said that they will have an information campaign to use alternative method to baste meats.

“For safer method then they should use alternatives like the banana leaves and lemon grass,” Perez told Cebu Daily News.

Perez is thankful to EcoWaste Coalition for its advocacy to protect the public from the hazards of lead paint.

EcoWaste Coalition is a national network of public interest groups pursuing sustainable and just solutions to waste, climate change and chemical issues.

Last week, the group examined 19 samples of paintbrushes that were bought from six hardware stores in Cebu City.

With the help of handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analytical device, the groups tested the paintbrushes for total lead content.

Out of 19 samples of paintbrushes, 16 were found to contain lead in the range of 309 parts per million (ppm) to 10,500 ppm, way above the US limit of 90 ppm for lead in paints and surface coatings.

Perez said they will stop the distribution of paintbrushes with high levels of lead in order to prevent food vendors and consumers from getting exposed.

As explained by the World Health Organization (WHO), lead is a toxic metal whose widespread use has caused extensive environmental contamination and health problems in many parts of the world.

It is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems, including the neurologic, hematologic, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal systems.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of lead, and even relatively low levels of exposure can cause serious and in some cases irreversible neurological damage.

Suzette Jabonete, information officer of DOH-7 admitted to Cebu Daily News that they don’t have a study on paintbrush with corresponding levels of lead content and they are thankful that Ecowaste Coalition conducted its own a study.

“We will also support their advocacy because it is also for the benefit of the public,” she explained.

She also urged the Cebu City Government on the ordinance’s strict implementation.

Since paintbrushes are cheap and are more durable, most barbecue vendors use these to baste meat.

Luding Revilleza, owner of Jam and James BBQ house, told Cebu Daily News yesterday that barbecue vendors should have been informed on the brands of paintbrushes that are hazardous.

http://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/2014/06/24/doh-use-leaves-not-paintbrush-on-barbecue/

[MikeB]

Luding Revilleza, owner of Jam and James BBQ house, told Cebu Daily News yesterday that barbecue vendors should have been informed on the brands of paintbrushes that are hazardous.

Like they care. Whatever's cheapest.

[sandwichmaker]

No one cares. Shame. I used to be annoyed when people in Europe don't stand up for what's right. After living here, that part of my mind has just exploded.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

I asked our cousin about that months ago.  She said she uses what brushes are the cheapest.  She never heard of lead and did not care - but she makes GOOD barbeque!  :tiphat:

[Jack Peterson]

“For safer method then they should use alternatives like the banana leaves and lemon grass,”

 

Well I hope they wash them well, with Bird droppings on banana leaves and Dogs peeing on just about every thing, I wonder what would be Worse??

[robert k]

I had heavy metal poisioning many years ago from crayfish caught in a ditch next to a battery plant back in the early 70's, not a good thing, but the concentration to kill you outright appears to be pretty high. My father was an industrial painter and he suffered from a build up of lead in his body because he was zinc deficient, your body needs metal and if it can't get the good kind, it will take and store up any kind it can get. If you are worried about the tiny amount of lead used in one of these brushes, never drink from a pewter mug or leaded crystal, drink from a drinking fountain in a building old enough to have any lead content in the solder used to join the pipes. Zero lead is better than a tiny amount of lead, but this is going to be low on my list of priorities to worry about. A diet of barbecue will most likely kill me faster than the tiny amount of lead would have a chance to.

[Jack Peterson]

:rolleyes: just as a matter of Interest, (bearing in mind I am, the typical, non Cooking Husband and have No idea of these things) what is the cost, of a Proper basting brush?

 

 I presume these things are available here in the PI?

 

:tiphat:

[i am bob]

I used to be one of those people... It better be by the book or we may die! Yeah, right... Some of the levels listed as being beyond what is good for us are beyond what is in our air... Our water... Our food... And I'm talking about the clean stuff, not pollution alley! So, as long as brush isn't rusty or full of rotting compost, I'm good!