Most paints contain
solvents--volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene,
naphthalene, and formaldehyde--which serve as spreadability enhancers,
biocides, and fungicides. During and after painting, these VOCs outgas
and can cause adverse short-term health effects such as headache,
nausea, dizziness, and eye, throat, and lung irritation. Oil-based
paints release more VOCs than water-based (latex) paints, but even
latex paints still emit vapors that can cause adverse effects.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have
worked together to create a brochure titled "Healthy Indoor
Painting Practices," which advises residents, property managers,
and paint contractors of potential health concerns associated with
paint vapors, and recommends simple ways to help minimize exposures.
The EPA and the CPSC have also released a Spanish-language version of
the brochure.
The new brochure is based on a
pamphlet originally developed and issued in 1998 by the Montgomery
County, Maryland, Department of Environmental Protection as part of
its Healthy Indoor Painting Practices campaign. (This campaign went on
to receive a National Association of Counties Achievement Award in
1999.) "We liked what Montgomery County had done, and decided it
was important for information that describes healthy indoor painting
practices to reach a national audience," says Christina Cinalli,
a chemist at the EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
"We want citizens to know how to create good ventilation when
using paints in their homes in horder to safeguard their health and
well-being."
Vapors can travel through cracks and
gaps around pipes and electrical outlets, and through the ventilation
systems of apartment and office buildings with central units,
affecting people far from the source of the fumes. The chemicals
released cannot be filtered by mechanical air conditioning or heating
systems. "Most homes have a closed system that doesn't bring in
fresh air; it just keeps recirculating," says Joe Keyser, the
director for public education for the Montgomery County Department of
Environmental Protection. "These systems do filter particulate
matter--dust--but not gaseous material." Currently, there are no
federal or state regulations concerning the use of indoor paints.
The brochure stresses the importance
of proper ventilation during and after painting. "People didn't
realize that even though paint dries within 4-5 hours after
application, VOCs can linger 48-72 hours after the paint job is
finished," Keyser wrote in the November 1998 issue of
MDEnvironment, a monthly publication released by the state Department
of Environmental Protection. Even after the smell of new paint has
diminished, VOCs may still be outgassed by the fresh coat. The
brochure recommends keeping windows open wide during painting and for
at least 2-3 days afterward, mounting box fans in windows to draw
fumes out of the work area, and planning painting projects for the
spring and fall, when it is more feasible to keep windows open. The
brochure also recommends using the low-VOC paints that are now
available from many manufacturers.
Free copies of "Healthy Indoor
Painting Practices" are available in English or Spanish by
calling the EPA's Indoor Air Quality Information Clearinghouse at
1-800-438-4318 (1-800-638-8270 for hearing- or speech-impaired
callers), or the CPSC at 1-800-638-2772. Downloadable versions of the
brochure in both English and Spanish are also available on the EPA's
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/exposure/docs/publication.htm
-Lindsey A. Greene
