Lead-based paint in the United Kingdom

Most lead-based paint in the United Kingdom was banned from sale to the general public in 1992, apart from for specialist uses. Prior to this lead compounds had been used as the pigment and drying agent in different types of paint, for example brick and some tile paints

Until the early 1960s white lead (lead carbonate/lead sulphate) was added in substantial quantities as the main white pigment in some paint products intended for use as a primer or top coat over metal and wood, both internally and externally. Examples of where this type of paint may have been used are skirting boards, doors, door frames, stairs, banisters, window frames and sills, wooden flooring, radiators, and pipes, though it could also have been applied to any other surface at this time e.g. plaster walls.

Prior to this the concentration of white lead in paint rose to its highest levels between the years 1930 and 1955, as much as half the volume in some paints, meaning many post-war UK houses have significant amounts of lead in original paint layers.

In the 1950s, alternative white pigments, such as titanium dioxide, were introduced.

In 1963 a voluntary agreement was made between the then Paintmakers' Association, now the British Coatings Federation, and the UK Government that resulted in labeling of paint that contained more than 1% of lead in dry film, with a warning that it should not be applied to surfaces accessible to children. However white lead-based paints remained in the supply chain and were therefore still in use for some time.

Following this, white lead continued to be added to some paint available to professional decorators for specialist use. Additionally, paint with low white lead levels was applied as a thin primer coat to some pre-fabricated domestic wooden windows until the early 1980s.

In 1992 European Union legislation was implemented within the UK by the Environmental Protection, part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), as the Controls on Injurious Substances Regulations. This prevented the addition of white lead to almost all paints except those intended for use in historic buildings and as artwork.

The lead-based pigments (lead tetroxide/calcium plumbate, or "red lead") were widely used as an anti-corrosive primer coating over exterior steelwork. This type of paint might have been applied to garden gates and railings, guttering and downpipes and other external iron and steel work.

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