Chemicals that are Found in Your Wall Paint
Repainting is one of the most done maintenance in the house, probably because it is cheaper compared to other remodeling projects but potentially increases the house value. However, you need to consider the family members who might get affected by the chemicals that are sometimes found in most paints. This is the reason why it is needed to hire professional companies for repainting jobs as they use quality paints that do not hard people. Painters in Sarasota FL know that certain chemicals may be damaging and that quality repainting is necessary for the health.
When you have family members who have asthma or respiratory problems, they might react to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can be found in organic solvents, which make up solvent-based paint. They are needed for the paint to spread on the whole wall surface and evaporates after. However, this is where the insidious damage begins. When the solvent begins to evaporate, VOC happens that pose harm to eyes, nose, skin, and may cause even a healthy individual some headaches, kidney damage, nausea, and central nervous system damage.
Paints are composed of pigments (for color), extender (strengthens the film), binder (holds the pigments), solvent (for easy paint spread), and additives (for anti-fungal properties).
Professionals and experts have done ways to reduce these risks, and one of which is to reduce the amount of solvent in paints although it significantly affects the quality of the paint and the convenience in spreading on the wall with ease. Fortunately, experts are still trying new ways to reduce solvents without compromising the paint quality.
In an attempt to lower solvents and opt for greener options, water-based paints are formulated and marketed. These paints now use water as their vehicle or carrier and have lower VOC compare to solvent-based paints. They are also easy to remove and clean, reducing exposure to potentially toxic chemicals. Before, buyers still chose solvent-based paints over water-based because the latter could not work at par with the former, and homeowners thought they needed a convenient product. Fortunately, because of research and the efforts to make greener and sustainable options more effective, water-based paints are now at par with solvent-based paints when it comes to quality.
In addition, water-based paints need preservatives to suppress microbial growth in the paint once applied on a surface. Without these preservatives, the paint can be a potential home to different kinds of bacteria, thereby causing damages to the surface.
In 2017, a certain manufacturer removed these preservatives but later faced the consequences. Because there were no preservatives, bacteria grew inside the cans, and when the buyers had now applied the paint on their walls, it emitted a certain foul smell similar to rotten animal and urine. This is caused by the production of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia by the bacteria. After what happened, the company re-added the preservatives in their paint cans and never tried to remove them again. For the future to come, there will be a greener alternative, and experts are still finding ways to achieve this.
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