To minimize indoor pollution, it’s best to be selective about what you put on the walls. We explain everything about green paint, more ecological than others.
Those who have already visited the paint section of the DIY store know this. it’s hard to find your way around the many mentions on labels. By “green” paints here we mean the most natural paints that ignore pigments and chemical solvents and use plant-based resins and binders. Common paints are of two types. it is what is diluted with white spirit. Acrylic paint, known as “water-based,” replaces solvents with water, but like solvent-based paint, it consists of petroleum-derived chemical resins.
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the words “natural”, “organic” or “ecological” have no regulatory meaning and are mostly marketing.
Natural paint is all good
Open the paint box. almost half of what is in it evaporates into the air after it is placed on the walls. Within a few days, the released ingredients create terrible internal pollution. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released through this pathway are endocrine disruptors.
According to European regulations, the VOC content of the paint must be less than 30 g/l. The so-called “VOC-free” paint contains less than 5 g/l. Finally, we consider a paint exhibiting a VOC content of less than 1 g/L to be a very good student.
Choose a reliable label
Technical data sheets also mention VOC emissions, i.e. the amount evaporated in the air during drying; paints are graded by letter from A+ emitting the least toxic product to C. least virtuous. We only select those with emissions that are classified as A+. emissions calculations are actually done twenty eight days after installation… But who waits this period before entering a ‘newly’ painted room?
We therefore take precautions, focusing on the most efficient, but also on those stamped with the European Ecolabel or NF Environnement. These instructions are the only ones that can be relied upon; the words “natural”, “organic” or “ecological” have no regulatory meaning and are mostly marketing.
real progress
Natural dyes have long had a bad press. insufficient coverage, difficult to wash, or poorly adapted to water features, they are no match for their chemical competitors. But that has changed. For example, we look at the rate of return. on average, 1 liter of paint covers 10 m².
At Algo, a Breton paint brand made from 98% bio-sourced resin and raw materials of natural origin (mainly algae), we demonstrate a yield of 12m². Kitchen, bathroom. today even in demanding rooms they find suitable “green” paints.
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It remains to be known that more natural paint takes longer to dry than chemical paint; nothing terrible considering the health and environmental benefits.
Source: Le Figaro
