Opinion ID: 1787304
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Promotion

Text: ¶ 86. With approximately 85 percent of all sales, National Lead dominated the white lead pigment market in 1900. Through its advertisements and promotions, National Lead promoted and reinforced the perception that no paint was as good, or as safe, as white leaded paint. Despite numerous articles showing that lead was a potent poison by the 1920s, in 1923, one of National Lead's ads declared that lead paint helps guard health by preventing a resting place for germs. Although there were warnings from the medical communities about the dangers of white lead paints in schools and hospitals, National Lead also specifically targeted those institutions from the 1920s into the 1930s. National Lead repeatedly claimed that its lead paint protected public health, as it was a deadly enemy of tuberculosis and other germs. In 1931, National Lead contended that its lead paint helped speed patients' recovery. ¶ 87. Between 1910 and 1925, three new major pigment manufacturers entered the market: Sherwin-Williams, Anaconda, and Glidden. National Lead's market share fell to between 60 and 70 percent during this time. Sherwin-Williams did not manufacture white lead until 1910, when it began operating a newly constructed white lead manufacturing plant in Chicago. Although Sherwin-Williams recognized the dangers of lead paint in a 1904 publication, and cautioned the War Department about the dangers of lead poisoning from lead paint in 1917, in 1922 it advocated using lead-based paint on children's toys. ¶ 88. During the mid-1920s, Sherwin-Williams continued to recommend using white-lead based paint (paint which contained upwards of 75 percent white lead) on interior surfaces, including walls, woodwork, doors, and ceilings. From 1936 until the 1940s, Sherwin-Williams promoted use of its lead based paints on toys. ¶ 89. Although Sherwin-Williams was specifically warned in 1937 about the hazards of white lead to children, Sherwin-Williams sold white lead paint for interior use as late as the 1950s. When Sherwin-Williams ceased producing white lead carbonate in 1947, it continued to sell white lead carbonate and leaded paints by buying the product from National Lead. ¶ 90. Atlantic Richfield's predecessor, Anaconda, began producing white lead in 1919, at a time Markowitz and Rosner opine that they knew or should have known of the hazards of white lead paint. In 1940, Anaconda also recommended using white lead on interiors. ¶ 91. Markowitz and Rosner opine SCM's predecessor, Glidden, also knew or should have known of the dangers of white lead when it began producing white lead in 1925. Glidden promoted its non-leaded zinc-based paints by arguing that unlike lead paints, zinc paints were non-toxic. In 1942, Glidden asserted that its lead-based paints were ideal for nurseries and children's rooms as it provided youngsters with a safe, pleasant place to play. Glidden also recommended lead-based paints for children's furniture. Through the late 1940s, Glidden sponsored its lead-based paint for interiors. ¶ 92. The LIA also actively promoted white lead. The LIA undertook several campaigns to push lead products. In 1934, after identifying a relationship between the use of white lead and lumber in construction, the LIA initiated a Forest ProductsBetter Paint Campaign. The campaign was funded by members, including Sherwin-Williams, W.P. Fuller, IS&R/Anaconda and National Lead. ¶ 93. In 1938, after recognizing the declining sales of white lead, the LIA began its White Lead Promotion Campaign. The LIA characterized the campaign as follows: This campaign by showing the importance of white lead to industry would help offset the constant threat of anti-lead legislation and propaganda. The campaign carried on until 1952. During its duration, National Lead, IS&R, W.P. Fuller, and MacGregor all contributed to the campaign. Glidden and Sherwin-Williams participated in the campaign in the post-war years. National Lead characterized the campaign as follows: [T]h[e] . . . campaign . . . should do more than confirm faith . . . in a time-tested material. It should furnish the incentive to support white-lead more vigorously than ever. It should help pave the way for increased profit and prestige for both painters and dealers. . . . [T]his campaign, running parallel to national Dutch Boy campaign, doubles the amount of advertising ordinarily used in presenting white-lead to the public. ¶ 94. In 1939, the LIA initiated projects with 4-H clubs to promote white lead among farmers and their children. Those projects were expanded in 1940 to include municipal, state, and county institutions, which specifically targeted schools and health departments. The campaign was successful. The LIA Secretary reported in 1940 that there was a growing tendency of paint manufacturers to add a product to their line consisting of 100% prepared white lead paint in colors. . . . It is also noteworthy that attacks on white lead, which was one of the reasons for undertaking our campaign, have declined greatly . . . . ¶ 95. The LIA was also issuing publications to promote lead products. In 1930, the LIA commenced publishing a quarterly magazine entitled Lead to promote varying uses of lead. The next year, the LIA produced book entitled, Useful Information About Lead, which suggested that painters use high percentages of lead. [T]he higher the better, the book stated. The book also promoted White Lead in Paint as going hand in hand with improved sanitation. In the 1941 book entitled Painting Farm Buildings and Equipment, the LIA recommended white lead for domestic interiors, and particularly dark colored lead paints on lower walls so that children's finger marks would be less visible. Similarly in 1942, the LIA published a booklet entitled, What to Expect From White Lead Paint, wherein the LIA promoted the use of white lead for both interior and exterior surfaces, suggesting that for interior wood, plaster and wallboard that 40 pounds of white lead be mixed with lead mixing or reducing oil to produce enough paint to cover 1,000 square feet of surface. Markowitz and Rosner submit that [m]any LIA advertisements were directed specifically toward encouraging the use of lead paint in the interiors of `low-cost homes.' ¶ 96. Just four years later, in 1946, the LIA Secretary disputed whether lead poisoning was attributable to lead-based paint because he contended that paint for inside uses no longer contained lead. In 1949, the LIA republished Painting Farm Buildings and Equipment, and, in 1952, in Lead in Modern Industry, the LIA stated: [W]hite lead . . . has practically no undesirable qualities to nullify its advantages . . . . [T]he profitable application of white lead is not confined to exterior use. Pure white lead paints can be utilized to advantage for interior decoration, particularly in public and traditional buildings. . . . The book further acknowledged that lead poisoning could occur from vapors, dusts, or ingestion of lead compounds. However, the book described ingestion posed the least danger, as the book asserted that most inside paints contained no lead. All the while, the LIA promoted lead paint for interiors. ¶ 97. It was not until December 1952 that the LIA made a decision, based solely on economics no less, to discontinue its promotion of white lead in house paints. Instead, the LIA diverted those funds to promoting red lead. Until at least 1962, however, the LIA continued to distribute Lead In Modern Industry, which advocated the use of white lead for interiors. The LIA withdrawal from promoting white lead, Markowitz and Rosner opine, was a tacit acknowledgment of lead paints' danger to children. ¶ 98. According to Markowitz and Rosner, the Pigment Manufacturers' marketing and ad campaigns created an enduring belief among consumers that the best paint was lead paintas National Lead stated, Remember, also, that the more white-lead you use, the better the paint. They further opine that [n]otwithstanding repeated statements over the years that it no longer produced white lead paint for interior use, the industry continued to sell white lead paints that were applied on interiors.