August/September 2008

Materials & Resources

Clearing The Air

What you need to know about environmentally friendly paint

By Laurie Hessemer, Owner, NEW ERA PAINT

Thanks to stricter regulations and increasing consumer demand for products that are healthier and more sustainably produced than their conventional counterparts, environmentally friendly paint has become the fastest growing segment of the $21 billion paint and coatings industry.   Now, nearly every major manufacturer has a low or zero VOC product, and many startups have introduced brands that claim to be not only safer, but more durable and better performing than the generation of eco-friendly paints that preceded them to market in the 1990’s.

Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a class of carbon-based chemical solvents that have historically been used as ingredients in paint for the purposes of spreading evenly and adhering to surfaces.  They are what we associate with the odor of new paint.  At room temperature, they evaporate rapidly (often referred to as off gassing), and once airborne, they combine with other molecules to create new compounds, some benign, some much less so.  We’ve all experienced the effects of VOCs in the form of headaches, nausea and eye irritation, but prolonged exposure can lead to more serious health problems, such as liver and kidney damage and respiratory disease.

VOCs and Green House Gases

Until now the federal government has capped the VOC content in paints at 250 g/L for flat finishes and 380 g/L for other finishes, but this has proved to be insufficient in managing the increasingly deleterious effects of air pollution on human health and habitats.   According to an Environmental Protection Agency study, the VOCs in paint products alone account for 9% of the pollutants that cause greenhouse gases and smog, which contribute to global warming.

Many regional authorities have mandated much stricter limits; in California, for instance, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has the toughest standards: in addition to dropping the allowable VOC content of house paints sold in the three county region it manages to 50 g/L, it plans to impose an “emissions fee” for manufacturers whose products exceed their specifications.  The EPA, meanwhile, has announced it will propose cutting its limits by more than half for most finishes. 

VOCs Don't Tell The Whole Story

This single-minded focus on VOCs, however, is not the whole story when it’s comes to evaluating the environmental friendliness of paint products.  It is, unfortunately, still possible to have a low or zero VOC paint that contains known carcinogens, mutagens and reproductive toxins, as evidenced by the hazardous materials warnings on the can labels.  And, too often the pigments that are used to tint paint increase the VOC content of the finished product considerably, something that consumers are largely unaware of.

Fortunately, credible organizations such as Green Seal, Greenguard Environmental Health Institute and Scientific Certification Systems have developed standards for testing the environmental and health benefits of these products, so that design-build professionals and consumers alike can buy them in confidence.

Consumer Reports also recently published an extensive survey, rating 57 interior paints on factors such as abrasion resistance, opacity and stain removal.  In general, green paints were found to be comparable to their conventional counterparts in performance, and in many instances, considerably better.

CONTINUED: Low VOC vs. No VOC

1 \ 2 \ Next >

CBG /August/September 2008