The Environmental & Health Risks Posed by Paint
Research conducted by Norwich Union insurance (recently rebranded ‘Aviva’) indicates that over the past 25 years, asthma has increased six times in children and three to four times in adults.
Diet and pollution is thought to be the cause of asthma, and it might be alarming to realise that sometimes seemingly innocuous items like paint can actually be dangerous pollutants.
The Impact of Paint on our Health
Exposure to paint fumes can lead asthmatics to suffer effects from wheeziness to asthma attacks, but it’s not just asthmatics that can be affected by paint fumes.
Studies have shown that the volatile organic compound levels inside newly-painted buildings are a thousand times higher than outside. The World Health Organisation released a report stating that painters have a twenty percent higher risk of cancer and forty percent for lung cancer.
Even normal, long term exposure to paint can have a detrimental effect on ones health, Danish specialists have discovered a neurological condition which they have dubbed ‘painter’s dementia’. Paint fumes can be particularly bad for health when combined with other problems such as skin problems, allergic reactions or headaches.
Paint is something which is hard to avoid for anyone who enjoys electricity, lights and shelter, so what can we do?
The Solution
Fortunately, the demand for eco paint is starting to gain momentum, and the possibility of protecting your family against the potential health risks of conventional solvent paints. Eco-friendly paints are made from natural ingredients, containing the bare minimum of synthetic constituents, and often none at all. Environmentally-friendly paint can be composed of all sorts of different substances including by-products. These natural ingredient paints do not emit damaging fumes into your home, and some are completely bio-degradable.
Be kind to the planet, your family, and your home
Green paint is just as easy to work with as conventional paint you would find in any DIY store, and they also come in the same range of colours. There’s no reason why committing yourself to environmentally friendly interior design should you mean you are forced to compromise on the style and quality you desire.
Natural paint is not prohibitively expensive, in fact it is very competitive with mainstream paint products, so hopefully more people will realise that they don’t need to expose themselves and their loved ones to dangerous pollutants inside their own homes.
Thankfully science has told us that paint is contributing to our seemingly-deteriorating health, and now slowly the tables are turning as environmentally-sound paint becomes readily available on the market.
Adam Cairn writes on behalf of Gecco Interiors, who supply green paint and other eco products for a green home.
Tags: eco-friendly, environment, health, paint
February 5th, 2010 at 11:54 am
doing some diy at the minute will definitely look into these paints