Most brand name paints contain hightly toxic solvents? Why are they allowed to get away with hurting people?

Question

I know that solvents are not required to make good paint, for instance there are many REAL low voc paints that do not use these solvents and the performance of that paint is equally comparable to the performance of the more toxic types.

How can one say that 300 G/L is low VOC? that is ridiculous, do you think most people are aware that they are inhaling fumes of ethylene glycol, a solvent banned in paint in California? MANY paints contain Ethylene Glycol and it is highly unnecessary so why do companies continue to put these toxic substances in paint?

Another fallacy is the fact that a day or two after the paint is applied the fumes magically disappear...these solvents may continue to "outgas" for months post application - So I guess if people like to inhale carcinogenic solvents use toxic paint right?

Another suggestion by someone is to use perfume to decrease the odor, tell me how does adding perfume decrease the amount of molecules of gaseous solvent in the air?

Answer 1

Watch out, the martians are outside your window!!!!! And the government wants you to breath in all those fumes so you'll have brain damage and they can sell you $3 a gallon gas. ooops, oh well, get over it.

Answer 2

Ethylene Glycol is used in paint to help prevent it from freezing,( look at a jug of anti-freeze-- ethylene glycol). in the cold climates this extends the shipping window and life of paint. It used to be if a latex paint got too cold it would break down and be ruined. So if you were to need paint shipped (like to the paint store from the manufacture) in the coldest months of winter time you took a chance of the paint being ruined in route. Thus the paint stores had to keep all the paint they thought they needed for the winter, which often meant that the paint was sitting around for a while. If the color trends changed a paint dealer might get stuck with and unsellable product. This means that they need to charge more to cover the expense of the unsellable paint by raising the prices of the current products.
Ethylene Glycol allows a quality paint to freeze to a slush a couple of times and be as good as new when allowed to warm back up.
There are other additives in paint. Mildewcides are used to control the growth of mold ond mildew on the paint surface. other additives will give the paint a more durable or washable surface, some additives help the paint level ond smooth when drying, others control the splatter of paint.
These additives have improved the paint of today far beond what was possible 20 or 30 years ago. Although some additives are harmful, lets remember the "good old days" of oil based paint with a ton of VOC's . They were thinned with mineral spirits (petroleum distallites) and dry time slowed by adding oils (linseed oil) and spead up using Japan Dryer (solvent) . All these solvent and oils and thinners would evaporate into the air leaving the paint film behind.( OH, Lets not forget the white lead that was left in the paint film before the 1970's.)
So you see that even though some chemicals are dangerous they are far better that the old products that they replaced. I assume as technology improves some of todays chemicals will be taken out and replaced with more enviromentally friendly products.

Answer 3

I have no idea where you live or what you are using but I have never had noxious smells after having my interior painted. In fact I've had no smells at all. And my professionals are not allowed to use anything that would be considered toxic. You must be paranoid. I just had my entire interior painted, some 3300 square feet and we aren't sick or dying, neither are our pets. Find something else to stress about.