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Paints for a Healthy Home: Looking beyond VOCs
More than 20 years ago, the US Environmental Protection Agency set limits on the amount of VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, that manufacturers could include in paint. Although the action was directed at curbing air pollution, it also triggered a significant step toward improving the air quality in our homes. It did this by reducing the volume of toxic chemicals released into the air.
Since then, evolving regulations and manufacturers who have rushed to market low or no VOC paints as healthier have reduced these chemicals even further.
But as some homeowners have found, meeting or even surpassing accepted VOC limits does not completely eliminate the health effects of a freshly painted room. Those sensitive to airborne chemicals, in particular, may still find that paint triggers a host of unpleasant symptoms.
That's because commercially produced paint contains many toxic chemicals and irritants. These irritants are not necessarily VOCs, and some chemicals that technically are VOCs are not regulated under the law. Understanding this can help you choose the best paint for maintaining a healthful environment inside your home.
Table of Contents
What Is Paint Made Of?
Paints are complex substances made up of a variety of chemicals that perform different functions. These include:
- Binders and resins that turn the liquid paint into a solid film when it dries
- Solvents that work with the binders to help the paint flow
- Fillers that add texture and durability, and
- Pigments that give the paint its color.
Most paints also include chemicals that act as preservatives or mold-and-mildew inhibitors, and some have odor-masking agents.
Significant to the performance of binders and solvents are the group of chemicals known as VOCs. These are organic chemical compounds that evaporate readily into the air under normal conditions. This evaporation means that when they're present in paint or other materials inside your home, they're also present in the air you breathe. Short-term exposure to VOCs can cause nose, throat, and eye irritation, headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. Long-term exposure has been linked to cancer and damage to the liver, kidneys, and nervous system. Formaldehyde, benzene, kerosene, acetone, and toluene are examples of VOCs used in paint.
How Much VOCs are Allowed in Paint?
The baseline federal limits for VOC content in paint are 250 grams per liter (g/l) for flat paint and 380 grams per liter for semi-gloss or glossy paints. However, a dozen states adhere to the rule of the Ozone Transport Commission, which limits VOCs to 100 g/l for flat finishes and 150 g/l for glossy paints sold in those states. And many paint manufacturers meet the even stricter standards of California's South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule 1113, which caps VOC content at 50 g/l. SCAQMD is the regulation that must be met for products to qualify as 'low-emitting products' for LEED Certification. Paints labeled "zero" VOC typically contain fewer than 5 grams of VOCs per liter.
What Is a Biocide?
One example is biocides—sometimes referred to as protein inhibitors—that prevent mold, mildew, and spoilage. Without biocides, you couldn't store water-based paints without them breaking down and becoming foul-smelling and unusable. Eliminating biocides, then, is a challenge even for manufacturers specializing in safe paint.
What Are Odor Masking Agents?
Less critical to paint performance are odor-masking agents. These patented formulas employ a variety of chemicals to disguise the odor of paint as it dries. While you may not smell the chemicals in a low-odor paint, that doesn't mean they aren't there. Also, adding an odor-masking compound adds another potentially irritating substance.
What Are APEs (Alkylphenol Ethoxylates)?
A specific category of chemical compounds receiving scrutiny for their health and environmental effects is alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs). These chemicals, added to paints as surfactants, are suspected endocrine disruptors and toxic to fish when released into the environment. Several big paint brands have already eliminated them, including Benjamin Moore's Aura, Natura and Regal Select lines, Sherwin-Williams Emerald, Harmony, and SuperPaint lines.
Other certifications focus not on VOC content but potentially dangerous emissions, focusing on chemicals we're breathing in. For example, UL's GREENGUARD Gold certification limits the emissions of 360 different VOCs for which health impacts are known. They cap the total VOC emissions to 220 micrograms per cubic meter. According to Josh L. Jacobs, UL's director of environmental codes and standards, limits are based on safe thresholds established by scientific organizations worldwide and then reduced further. More than 1400 paints and coatings have obtained Greenguard Gold certification.
SCS Indoor Advantage and Indoor Advantage Gold certification also measure emissions, limiting 35 individual VOCs specified under the California 01350 standard. Its green products guide lists certified paints.
