Content area
Full Text
We are no strangers to the saying 'nothing a fresh coat of paint won't fix', but not everyone stops to consider the health and environmental impacts of the tins of colour we use to spruce up our homes.
Typically covering 80 per cent of a building's surfaces, paints are made up of a variety of ingredients, some which are more benign than others. Possibly the most harmful chemical found in paints are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which are carbon-containing solvents that vaporise into the air readily as paint dries.
These VOCs help make paint easier to spread as well as more durable, but often have negative effects on the health of building occupants. Some exposure to such products can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea, while higher exposure levels can have more serious consequences, such as kidney damage and even cancer.
"There are studies that show that you get 70 per cent of the toxins that you absorb into your body through the air you breathe inside buildings," says Stuart McPhee, national sales manager of non-toxic paint manufacturer, ecolour.
"Eight per cent comes from the food and water we eat and drink, but it is the air that we breathe inside buildings that is doing the most damage to us, and paint is the biggest contributor."
Some VOCs also form ground level ozone by releasing odoriferous chemicals that lead to 'urban smog'. This leads to environmental repercussions, with the paint industry responsible for up to 16 per cent of all VOC emissions in Australia.
However, these problems can be avoided or at least minimised by specifying low or zero VOC paints. These paints usually emit less odours, and offer faster drying times and non-yellowing properties.
Here are five low or zero VOC products...