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"Eco-friendly" zero VOC paint
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Some people wonder if using paints that have low or zero VOC (volatile organic compounds) helps to preserve the environment and less harmful to a person, who is living in the house being painted, than regular paint.
As far as environment goes, paint itself ends up on the walls and does not cause huge environmental impact on this planet. The damage to environment is done not trough the paint itself (although the paint doesn't do any good to environment either) but through the left overs: plastic, that was covering the driveway or the pool deck from paint over spray, the empty paint buckets, that are made of plastic, the masking paper, the tape. It will take a very long time in the local landfill to decompose for all those things. It is easy to tell when a painter just finished a complete paint job of an average size house. His truck is full of garbage bags, filled with trash. Regardless of type of paint that is being used the amount of trash, that will end up in the landfill will be exactly the same. It sounds good somewhere in advertisement “ We use eco-friendly paints” but in real life there is no currently a solution on how to paint a house and make it eco-friendly. Painting is always messy and it is never friendly to environment.
When painting interior of a house, using zero VOC paints can be helpful if the homeowner is present during the painting process and he has very sensitive nose, as these paints have very little smell. As far as long term effects, this paint would not make a huge difference on home owner's health. And it it is not because regular paints are friendly for a human being. The main reason for little impact on human health is this: there are so many hazards in a daily life of an average person that are far more harmful for a human health, than having conventional paints on one's walls. The things more harmful to a human would be: drinking coca-cola, eating fast food, having stress at work, you name it.
This article was not written based on any studies. Nor it is written to discourage anyone from using “eco-friendly” paints. It is simply an opinion of one painting contractor.
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