Painting is one of the quickest ways to give your Athens rooms personality. You can create feelings of happy, calm, warm or healing, depending on the color you choose for your interior painting project. It’s also one of the quickest ways to expose yourself and your family to significant amounts of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, found in most commercially produced paints. These are solvents which help keep the paint wet while in the can, and also help speed up the drying process. They are known carcinogens and, even in small doses, cause dizziness, headaches and an irregular heartbeat. In high doses they can cause liver or kidney damage.
These products are some of the worst contributors to indoor air pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency lists paint and finishes as one of the top five human health hazards, as they release low level toxic emissions into the air even years after their application [Source: EPA]. VOCs are the number one toxin in conventional paint, along with thousands of other synthetic chemicals such as fungicides, insecticides and preservatives [Source: EPA].
Indoor use of lead-base paint has been illegal in the United States since the 1970s.The next legislative challenge is to get rid of VOCs and synthetic chemicals. We can ensure this happens with consumer demand, refusing to purchase paint with these ingredients, and demanding our legislators take action to ensure companies have the health of consumers at the forefront of production.
So what to do in the meantime? Thanks to the work of many environmental groups and consumer demand, most manufacturers now produce one or more low- or non-VOC paints. I have found these to be just as good as conventional varieties. Look for paints made from tree and plant oils, herbal extracts, minerals, vegetable pigments, citrus peel thinners and beeswax. You can also find food-based paints with added essential oils that are truly lovely and leave your newly painted room with a fresh scent rather than that of chemical fumes.
When you paint indoors, always remember to have good ventilation no matter how safe the paint. Some cans might have no VOCs, but still contain a small amount of toxins. Avoid painting in the winter months and instead wait for spring when you can open the doors and windows. Choosing a nontoxic, earth-friendly paint is not only important to the health of your family, but also the health of the planet. As always, do a little research on the company before purchasing your products. Your Athens painting contractor is a great resource for knowledge concerning toxic compounds in paints and the safest brands available on the market.
