You may or may not know that regular paints release solvents into the atmosphere during the process of curing and evaporating, and as you’ll probably be able to guess, this isn’t a good thing. What the paints emit are chemical substances called Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and these wind up in the air. This can have several bad effects; for example, it can result in ozone depletion, it can contribute to the problem of smog and also the big one; it can contribute to global warming. Global warming worries mean that the public are trying to look for more alternatives in their choice of paints. During the nineties, when we saw the first environmentally friendly paints, they didn’t become popular.

So, will eco friendly paints become more popular with the increased awareness of global warming? Those who are painting pros need to be convinced. If paints do not come with the volatile organic compounds, the paint experts tell us these are inferior to paints that contain them. The longevity of eco friendly paint and the need to utilize more are the exact reason that paint experts give to oppose them. Nonetheless, Because VOCs are linked to health issues, like asthma and headaches, a lot of people are switching from paints with VOCs to environmentally safe paints, leaving the industry no choice but to respond.

Water based latex paints which have binding qualities might be a way to overcome this issue. Because VOCs are absent, it means they are environmentally safe. If you are looking to paint iron, this is a problem with water based latex paint because rust will come about more quickly. Nonetheless, customers are turning more often to latex paints.

When we say ‘Earth friendly paints’, we don’t merely mean the paint itself is not harmful to the environment, but also the procedure in which the paint was made or how the ingredients were gathered. As an example, Titanium Dioxide is used in numerous paints because of its whiteness, which only means it is is able to hide other paints. Making Titanium Dioxide may cause sulfuric acid to be produced. Sulfuric acid, together with the chemicals that were dissolved in it, was released into the sea, which obviously is not healthy for the environment.

One more problem with Titanium Dioxide is that it reacts to the sun, resulting in smog, when applied as an outside coating. Moreover, Titanium Dioxide has been connected to a carcinogen that can cause cancer in people. While these concerns are known Titanium Dioxide is still widely used in paints.

Earth friendly paints can be expected to become more widely used as we start to realize the effects that regular paints have on our health and in our environment.