VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY
In the name of home maintenance, Vic and I reluctantly contributed to
the smog in our air recently. We had our house painted inside and out. As
I breathe in paint fumes from the curing oil-based enamel, I’m grateful
that paints in the future will pollute the air less than they do today.
Believe it or not, house paints are a major contributor to our area’s
air pollution. The petroleum-based solvents in paint are hydrocarbons
that react in sunlight with nitrogen oxides to form ozone, which is a
major component of smog.
While we need ozone in the upper atmosphere to protect us against
ultraviolet radiation from the sun, ozone in the air that we breathe is
not good for us. Ozone causes shortness of breath, kills lung cells and
is suspected of causing premature aging of the lungs. In fact, a study by
Kaiser Permanente showed that when ozone levels go up, hospitalizations
for respiratory and cardiac ailments also rise. It took an ozone increase
of only 10 parts per billion to increase the number of hospitalizations.
I know a lot of people believe that environmental regulation is
needless government interference with business, but there’s another
perspective. Pollution affects our health, especially the health of our
children and our elderly. That’s why we’re happy we have the Air Quality
Management District to help protect us.
The district is concerned with emissions from paints, stains and
sealers. Rules enacted by the management district in May 1999 will
substantially cut future levels of the volatile organic compounds that
are permitted in various paint products. These rules will be phased in
over a seven-year period, assuming the chemists in the paint industry are
able to develop adequate paints to meet the new standards.
The new regulations deal mainly with primers and sealers, industrial
paint and household quick-dry enamels and glossy paints such as the ones
used on our woodwork and in our bathrooms and kitchens. Stains for the
deck and various coatings for our floors and roofs will also be affected.
The reformulations that are mandated will eliminate an estimated 22
tons of volatile organic compounds a day. This is slightly more than 2%
of the total load of hydrocarbon compounds that are spewed into our air
by all sources, including cars and industry.
Paint of all types releases 58 tons of these compounds into the air
daily in the greater LA basin. This is the same amount that is produced
by 1.8 million cars. The new rules are designed to lower this by about
one-third. As our population increases, the number of houses increases.
Without these new rules, the amount of pollution produced by drying house
paint would increase proportionally. Reducing emissions from each painted
house will offset the increase in emissions from the increased number of
houses being painted.
We do our part to reduce air pollution by not painting very often.
This is the first time we’ve painted since we moved in 12 years ago. Mike
Empting and his partner Tom Short of Valley Painting in Fountain Valley
painted our house then. They did a great job, so we hired them again.
We had a good time discussing paints, air pollution and changes in the
industry with Mike and Tom. They warned us that although they use good
quality paint, our new paint job wouldn’t last as long as the old one had
because the newer, more environmentally friendly formulations now in
existence don’t cover as well as the old ones and aren’t as durable.
Unfortunately, the new Air Quality Management District rules also will
affect your pocketbook the next time you paint. The cost of a gallon of
glossy paint will go up an estimated $6 a gallon. But I’d rather pay the
price in dollars than at the cost of my health. Mike pointed out a hidden
cost. He said that oil-based enamel probably wouldn’t be available in a
few more years. The next time we paint, he and Tom will have to sand the
old oil-based paint, coat it with primer and cover it with the newly
formulated latex-based paint, adding expensive labor steps to the
painting process. If you want to help reduce air pollution, don’t paint
as often as you might like. Volatile organic compound emissions from
paint are highest during summer, when ozone pollution is at its worst, so
consider painting in the winter. And look into the low and zero compound
paints that are now available. They don’t smell bad as they dry. In
retrospect, I wish I’d known about them when I was choosing paints.
Twelve years from now, I’ll know better.
* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and
environmentalists. They can be reached at o7
https://www.vicleipzig@aol.comf7 .
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