It isn’t easy painting green

[attach]1195[/attach]If you’re thinking about a home renovation project, you may have heard of “low-VOC” or “zero-VOC” paints which are being sold to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.

“I think people ask for it but they don’t really know what it does,” said Claudio Grisolia, president of Steeles Paint. “As long as they see the word ‘green’ … they think they’re helping the environment.”

So what are VOCs and why shouldn’t they be in paints?

VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound. These compounds have high vapour pressures and readily evaporate into the atmosphere. They can be found in many commercial products such as household cleaning products, personal care products, paints and printing inks. The compounds continuously evaporate into the air as the paint dries.

Many paints used for home decoration projects have high concentrations of VOCs. That strong, headache-inducing smell you notice when painting is one of the giveaways that the paint may be high in VOCs.

These chemicals help the paint to level out, dry faster and go on easier.

However, they contribute to the formation of smog, which Environment Canada says has harmful effects on human health. The federal government has put forth regulations that will limit the amount of VOCs allowed in certain products, in order to continue the fight against climate change.

So how can one determine the VOC content?

There are some factors to consider. Aside from varnishes and stains, there are oil and latex paints. Oil paints are very high in VOCs and, according to retail chain Home Depot, they will be phased out eventually.

Latex paint comes in different sheens, and each sheen boasts a different VOC concentration. On the glossiness scale, flat (or matte) has the least amount of sheen. Next is eggshell, followed by satin, semi-gloss and high-gloss. The darker the tint, the higher the sheen, the higher the VOC content.

A lot of paint and stain manufacturers have recently launched low- or zero-VOC latex paints, to get a head start on the proposed regulations, and to appeal to eco-conscious customers.

However, Grisolia says people should be careful when choosing zero-VOC paints.

“When you grab a gallon of paint off the shelf (at a store), it’s just a base,” he said. “That base might be zero-VOC but to change the colour you have to put tint in it. That tint is full of VOCs.”

He says these new paints are still in the early stages of development, but it’s getting better every day.

For now, he says professional painters aren’t happy with the zero-VOC products.

“They hate using it,” he said. “It’s not user-friendly. (Paint manufacturers) are working on ways to make it flow better and dry a little slower.”

He says that by taking out the chemicals, the paint dries too fast.

“You go up and down the wall once and it’s dry,” he said. “It leaves roller or brush marks because it doesn’t have a chance to level out.”

Grisolia added that if the paint was easy to work with, it would be selling much better.

“If the average Joe isn’t really a good painter, he’s going to have a hard time getting a nice-looking wall.”

Andrew Fedele, manager of technical services at Para Paints, says they are working on a zero-VOC line of coloured paints.

“We’re not happy with what we’re seeing so far,” he said. “It dries too fast, there are problems with uniformity.”

He says they will be forced to make new products once the regulations take effect.

“What (the government) is asking us to take out of the paint is what makes the paint work, so it’s going to take some time.”

A typical gallon of latex paint can contain up to 360 grams per litre of VOCs, depending on the sheen. Varnishes, stains and lacquers can have up to 460 g/L.

Environment Canada’s rules will place common house paint into three categories: flat coatings (matte), non-flat coatings (eggshell, satin or semi-gloss), and high-gloss coatings.

The new regulations will be: The maximum VOC concentration for any flat coating must not exceed 100 g/L. The concentration for any non-flat coating must not exceed 150 g/L. For high-gloss coatings, the maximum allowed is 250 g/L.

Glen Harper, a technical advisor for Sico Paints, says that rust paints will probably be exempt from the new laws, because safety comes first.

“In Canada, our climate is very moist,” he said. “There’s a lot of condensation that can contribute to oxidization (rust).”

Rust paint, which he says contains about 390 g/L of VOCs, prevents surfaces from oxidizing, which can keep things like metal support
beams from collapsing due to rust.

Grisolia says that Benjamin Moore is the only company right now that has the technology to produce low-VOC paints in all colours. One of their newest lines, dubbed Aura, contains only 50 g/L of VOCs and comes in any of the manufacturer’s 3,300 colours. Benjamin Moore is working on new paints that will be coming out soon, including a zero-VOC line of paint that uses zero-VOC tints. It will be costly, Grisolia adds.

Aura costs about $66 a gallon, compared to $54 for a comparable regular paint also made by Benjamin Moore. Other brands of paint have similar prices differences between regular paints and low-VOC ones.

Pittsburgh Paints has a Pure Performance line that boasts a zero-VOC content, but once the tints are added it raises the VOC content slightly.

AFM Safecoat contains 17 g/L of VOCs and comes in many colours. Another zero-VOC line is Freshaire Choice by ICI Paints, which is coloured with zero-VOC tints.

Grisolia says everything is headed in the no-VOC direction, and consumers should expect to pay a little more for their paint.

For the average consumer, he says the regular paint is still easier to use, but the technology keeps getting better.

“I’m sure one day, in our lifetime, everything will be low- to zero-VOC.”