GreenYour HomeThe Complete Guide to Making Your New or Existing Home Environmentally Healthy by Jeanne Roberts

Author:Jeanne Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: green, environmentally friendly, save the planet, new home, green-friendly, energy efficency, earth friendly, house, construction, existing home
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Group
Published: 2014-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

Paints and Stains: Oil versus Latex

Americans use 3 million gallons of paint every day, or more than a billion gallons in a year. The paints and stains we use often are hazardous to us, our families, our pets, and our environment. Oil-based paints contain volatile organic compounds that vaporize at room temperature and make people sick. Some of the symptoms include headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, confusion, rapid heartbeat, and nausea. Latex paints also contain volatile organic compounds, which accounts for their odor, but to much less of an extent. Oil-based paints also are flammable, and when burned, release even more volatile organic compounds, because the primary catalyst for volatile organic chemical release is heat. Old paint, or marine paint, also may contain lead, polychlorinated biphenyls, cadmium, chromium, or mercury, all of which are lethal to humans, animals, and the environment. Although the Consumer Products Safety Commission banned the use of lead in consumer paints in 1978, some people still might have cans of old paint that contain lead. If you save old paint, sort your cans and dispose of old paint at your nearest recycling facility.

The use of oil-based paints during hot, sunny weather can contribute to the problem of ground-level ozone. Ground-level ozone is formed by nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds, which react with heat and sunlight to form ozone. Nitrogen oxides come from burning fossil fuels in cars, power plants, and industry. Volatile organic compounds are solid or liquid chemical substances that evaporate readily in the air and create particulates that cause their distinctive odors. They can come from car exhaust, gasoline, solvents, and paints, to name but a few sources. The result is toxic air pollution, and your state or local government will issue ozone air alerts on days when this problem is especially prevalent or widespread.

Even at very low levels, ozone pollution can cause or exacerbate health problems such as allergies, asthma, pneumonia, and bronchitis. Repeated exposure over several months might reduce people’s ability to breathe properly, by doing permanent damage to their lungs. Since most people spend more time outdoors in summer than in winter, populations at risk for this damage include children, seasonal workers, joggers, sun worshippers, and gardeners.

Ozone pollution does not just affect people and pets. It is the direct cause of $3 billion to $5 billion worth of crop losses every year, because ozone interferes with a plant’s ability to photosynthesize nourishment, making it more susceptible to disease, insects, other forms of pollution, and extremes in weather. This injury is particularly apparent on the surfaces of leaves, where ozone poisoning forms small, circular lesions like blisters that turn dark purple to black and spread over the leaf in distinct and readily identifiable patterns. Plants especially susceptible to ozone include common milkweed, and scientists have begun to track and assess ozone pollution through its effect on these plants.

Put a few drops of water in the paint you are using. If the water does not blend into the paint when you stir it gently but remains on top, you have an oil-based paint.

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