This Green Life
A Journal of Sorts
LOW-VOC PAINTS
Preferable, Available, Affordable
On two occasions in recent months we've neededpainting done in our apartment -- once due to waterdamage and another time because we enlarged a room.For the first job, we got low-VOC paint; for the secondone -- completed last night -- we forgot.What a mistake! We are living withthe consequences this morning andwill go on living with them for a longtime to come. I don't just mean thenew paint smell now pervading ourhome, but the health risks that gowith it..Conventional paint -- the kind you getif you forget to ask for somethingdifferent -- emits volatile organiccompounds, or VOCs, that are toxic.What makes them volatile is that theydon't want to stay in liquid (or solid)form; they tend toward the gaseousstate. Hence, first chance they get,they vaporize.In the case of paints, evaporation isgreatest during and right afterapplication, but continues at lowerlevels for months. The gases mix withthe air in the room, exposingoccupants to chemicals that can havea rash of short- and long-term effects, including eye irritation; respiratoryproblems; headaches; loss of coordination; nausea; and damage to theliver, kidneys and central nervous system. Exposure to VOCs has alsobeen linked to cancer.Why are VOCs in paint in the first place? They keep the other components-- pigment for color and a binder or resin to make the paint stick -- in aliquid solution long enough for the paint to be applied, then convenientlyevaporate so the paint can dry.In other words, VOCs serve a necessary function, but they are not theonly possible answer to the problem, as manufacturers have recentlydiscovered -- or, you might say, rediscovered, since paints have beenmade without VOCs through most of history.The upshot is that nowadays many companies offer alternative low- andno-VOC formulas side-by-side with their conventional high-VOC brands.And you don't need to look far to find them. For instance, I was able tolocate low-VOC paint at our local Janovic Plaza.Keep in mind, though, that "low-VOC" is not a clearly defined term. Withsome paints, it means 49 grams/liter of VOCs; with others, 149
Sheryl Eisenberg
, a long-timeadvisor to NRDC, posts a newThis Green Life every month.Sheryl makes her home inTribeca (NYC), where
—
alongwith her children, Sophie andGabe, and husband, Peter
—
shetries to put her environmentalprinciples into practice. Nofooling.. . .
Color Matters.
VOCs thatmay be present in thepigment are not listed onpaint labels and websites.(Only VOCs in the base paintare.) Dark colors tend tohave more VOCs, so go withlight shades to limit yourexposure. (This may notapply to natural paints.)
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