Paint it green?
Jane Turner considers the environmental and health impacts of indulging in a little DIY makeover.
Everybody’s doing it and it’s all the fault of those
TV makeover programmes. But giving your house a new lick of paint may not
be as simple as deciding which colour to go for. Not if you don’t want
the environment and your health to suffer as a result.
This report assesses some of the environmental claims behind
both conventional and ‘natural’ paints which are used to decorate
woodwork (glosses). It does not cover
metallic or masonry paint, woodstain or varnish, although some of the companies
featured also produce these. See the separate ethiscore report on Emulsion paints.
Natural or synthetic?
Paints usually contain pigment (colour), a binder or resin
(carrier and a glue for the colour), solvent to aid application and a dryer.
In ‘natural’ paints, these materials tend to be plant-based rather
than synthetic. Synthetic ingredients, such as the vinyl and acrylic used
in most conventional emulsion paints, tend to be by-products of the petrochemical
industry. Plant based ingredients come from processes which are less damaging
than petrochemical-based synthetic processes.
Natural paints
The ‘natural’ paint movement began in Germany towards
the end of the 20th Century in response to concerns about the impact of
modern chemical paints on the environment and health. There are now many
brands of ‘natural’ paint on the market which claim to be both
safer to use and kinder to the environment than conventional products.
Of the seven brands featured in this report, four are made
in Germany (Auro, Livos, BIOFA and earthBorn) whilst three are made in the
UK (Nutshell, ECOS and Green Paints).
Not all ‘natural’ paints are the same. Some contain
no solvents, while others just contain fewer than conventional paints, using
natural materials instead. They may use turpentine or d-limonene as a solvent
alternative to white spirit. Others may be VOC free but use other synthetic
binders and resins. Two companies in this report, Auro and Nutshell, claim
that their paints are completely petrochemical free.
Linseed oil and casein can replace vinyl and acrylic plastic
binders, and chalk and clay are sometimes used as fillers instead of titanium
dioxide. All the natural paint companies in this report used titanium dioxide
in some of their products.
Natural paints are often coloured with natural earth and mineral
pigments.(2) With Biofa and Nutshell paints, you need to add natural pigments
to white paint to get your chosen colour.
Natural paint ingredients
Linseed oil
Produced by pressing the oil from the seeds of the flax plant, usually boiled
to decrease drying times. Used as the binder in linoleum and many paint
and varnish products.
Lime
Used for centuries in traditional wall paints, renders and mortar. It’s
the product of heated limestone and is the forerunner of modern cement.
Turpentine
Natural solvent for paint. Distilled from the pine tree, a renewable and
biodegradable source. Turpentine is a far better alternative to petrochemical
solvents such as white spirit which contain toluene and xylene, both known
carcinogens.
D-limonene
A natural solvent derived from citrus fruits, such as oranges, lemons and
grapefruit. Produced by distilling the oil extracted after pressing the
fruit peel.
Natural earth and mineral pigments
Used to colour paints and lime washes and some renders. Pigments are extracted,
cleaned and milled; some mineral pigments are heat-treated to produce different
colours. Others include ochre, umber and sienna.
Chalk
Natural calcium carbonate, used in various wall paints and lime renders
as an extender and filler. Clays of various types can also be used for this
purpose.
Casein
Casein is derived from milk, and has been used as a natural binder in paint
for many years.
Borax
A benign substance which is used as a fungicide; i.e. it stops the paint
from ‘going off’.
A natural performance
Of course, the least ecological product of all is one which
doesn’t work.
In the Which? report on exterior gloss in April 2006 it
advised “avoid the Auro Gloss and Livos High Gloss Oil Paint. They
both make a very poor job of protecting surfaces and are vulnerable to mould.
The Livos doesn’t spread easily or dry well and the coating looks sparse.”
But it recommended as a best buy Green Paints’ Gloss Enamel.
In an earlier report on gloss paints, Which? also said “on
the whole the ‘natural’ paints we tested didn’t do as well
as the others. They are also quite pricey and can be difficult to find on
the high street.”(1)
Green Paints may have done well because of its synthetic ingredients.
We could not find ingredients listings on the web for the two paints that
market themselves as ‘green’ – ECOS and Green Paints. They
were the only two brands of ‘natural’ paint not to disclose their
ingredients on the web. These brands may come out better in Which? tests
because of acrylic resins and other synthetic chemicals. See ‘Green
paint or red herring?’ below.
The UK paint manufacturers trade body, the British Coatings
Federation, has said that solvent based gloss paints will be glossier and
more resistant to wear and tear than lower VOC acrylic gloss paints. As
is borne out in the Which? tests, non-acrylic ‘natural paints’
may have an even poorer performance.
Chemical cocktails
The chemicals in ordinary paints can contaminate the environment.
For each ton of paint produced, the resulting waste can be anything up to
30 tons. This waste can be toxic and doesn’t degrade naturally. Emulsions
produce less waste than gloss or varnish, but can still cause damage.(2)
In 1989, the World Health Organisation’s International
Agency for Research on Cancer found that professional painters and decorators
faced a 40% increased chance of contracting cancer, and went so far as to
classify painting and decorating as a ‘carcinogenic’ activity
by definition. In Denmark, ‘Painter’s Dementia’ or ‘Solvent
Dementia’ is a recognised industrial disease caused by excessive exposure
to solvents and other chemicals.(5) Although home DIY enthusiasts are clearly
at less risk, the study nevertheless raises legitimate concerns about the
use of toxic chemicals in the home.
According to Construction Resources, studies have shown that
the indoor environment is now up to ten times more polluted than the external
environment. The use of synthetic paints is said to contribute to Sick Building
Syndrome.(5)
Titanium dioxide
Titanium dioxide may be used as a white pigment and to improve the coverage
or ‘opacity’ of the paint. But titanium dioxide has a significant
environmental impact, leading some of the alternative paint companies to
offer a choice of paints either with or without titanium. In energy terms,
titanium dioxide has the biggest impact on the environment compared to the
solvents and binders. This is borne out by the Eco-Label criteria which
found that the four environmental problems to which paints contribute the
most are:
• petroleum consumption for the production of titanium dioxide, resins
and solvents
• global warming through emissions of CO2 and VOCs resulting respectively
from titanium dioxide production and from solvent paint application
• atmospheric acidification due to CO2 and sulphur from titanium dioxide
processing
• discharges of waste into water due to titanium dioxide processing.
An additional factor not considered in the Eco-Label criteria is habitat
destruction. Titanium dioxide is a non-renewable resource which is relatively
scarce and some areas that it is mined from, such as Madagascar, have unique
habitats.(6)
Solvents and VOCs
One of the most important issues relating to household paint is that of
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), especially in gloss paints.
All solvent-based paint, whether natural or synthetic, contains volatile
organic compounds (VOCs). Solvents are used to keep the paint in suspension
until applied. After painting the solvent evaporates and leaves the dried
paint on the surface. This evaporation can contribute to the formation of
ground-level ozone and smog which can contribute to global warming. Ozone
can irritate the mucous membranes of the respiratory system, causing coughing,
headaches and eye, nose and throat irritation.(6)
VOC labelling
In the late 1990s, B&Q voluntarily started labelling its own brand
paints with their VOC content and set targets for VOC reduction in paint
products. Between 1996 and 2003 these developments resulted in an estimated
45% reduction in the VOC content of its paint products.
Since then, the paint industry in the UK has also adopted the labelling
scheme but on a voluntary basis. The scheme uses five categories from ‘minimal’
VOC content to ‘very high’:
0% - 0.29% = minimal
0.3% - 7.99% = low
8% - 24.99% = medium
25% - 50% = high
over 50% = very high
An EU Paints Directive limiting the amount of solvents that can be used
in paints will take effect from January 2007 with tougher limits being enforced
from January 2010. However, the targets are less demanding than the ones
B&Q set and many natural paint companies already meet the 2010 target.
In order to avoid confusion, B&Q has now changed its labelling definitions
to match the less stringent EU ones but it says it will not let this dilute
its policy and target commitments or stop it from continuing to challenge
and improve its environmental performance.
Green paint or red herring?
VOCs generally occur in far higher levels in gloss paint than in emulsion
paint. Consumers in high-street stores looking to avoid high-level VOCs
will tend to be pointed towards new generations of water-based gloss paints.
However, some specialist eco-paint producers argue that it may be better
to buy a solvent-based gloss paint from an environmentally aware company
than to buy a water-based paint. Environmental building organisation Construction
Resources says that the new water-thinnable paints “actually contain
more chemicals than the oil based type they are intended to replace”.
This stance is supported by natural paint company Auro; “In order
to produce water-borne gloss paints, the acrylic resins on which many are
based not only involve an energy intensive production process, but require
a complex of neutralising agents, auxiliary dilutants and preservatives
to achieve the desired result. Some of these chemicals are highly dangerous
and although only traces of them remain in the finished product, Swedish
nature conservation authorities have warned that a 40 million to one dilution
is necessary to render ‘water soluble gloss paint’ harmless before
entering the sewage system - the equivalent of rinsing a paint brush under
a tap for a week!”(7)
Several natural paint companies, plus environmental groups such as Friends
of the Earth, insist that all VOCs are not the same. Whilst conventional
paints can emit an alarming array of noxious gases, including known carcinogens
such as toluene and xylene,(5) the fumes given off by natural paints can
result from the use of substances like alcohol and even essential oils such
as orange. But both types of paint may get a similar VOC rating.
All the natural paint companies offer some paint that is solvent free but
all of the paint from ECOS and Green Paints is solvent free.
Natural paint wars
In 2002, the Green Building Store complained to the ASA that ECOS’
use of the word ‘organic’ was misleading. The complaint was upheld
becuase there is no standard for certifying paint. ECOS said “they
used the word “organic” to convey that their paints were non-toxic
and environmentally friendly”. ECOS still calls its paints organic
but the ASA told the advertisers to make plain that “organic”
was purely a trademark and that no industry recognised standard for organic
paints existed. However, there is no mention of this on its website and
on its FAQ page in answer to the question “Why organic?” ECOS
says, “All ECOS products are free of pesticides, free of herbicides
and entirely non-toxic.” In its turn, ECOS has made many complaints
about adverts using the term ‘natural’ when the products have
contained synthetic ingredients. All its complaints have been upheld.
Animal ingredients
Vegans should be aware that casein is a common ingredients in paint, especially natural paint because it is an alternative to the use of plastic binders. It is derived from milk proteins and is commonly used in emulsion paints. Other animal ingredients used by the paint industry include beeswax and shellac but these are more commonly used in wood treatments and varnish. ECOS and Green Paints do not use any animal ingredients in their products, according to their marketing materials. Neither company lists its full ingredients on the web but we know that ECOS uses synthetic binders instead of casein, as may Green Paints.
Re-Paint the town
An estimated 80 million litres of paint, enough to fill 50 Olympic-sized
swimming pools, is stored in homes and garages or just thrown away. This
paint tends to be stored and then disposed of in landfill.(10)
Never pour leftover paint into drains. Contact your council about recycling
or disposal, offer it to friends, or donate it to social projects such as
Community RePaint, which collects paint for community groups, voluntary
organisations and charities.(3) Community Re-Paint has a network of over
70 schemes across the UK. Check out the website to find your nearest scheme.(10)
See www.communityrepaint.org.uk or tel 0113 200 3959.
What's in the Best Buys
|
| animal ingredients?
| titanium dioxide?
| solvents?
|
| Gloss paints
|
| Auro 250 gloss
| no
| no
| no
|
| Auro 260 silk
| no
| no
| no
|
| ECOS
| no
| yes
| no
|
| Green Paints
| no
| yes
| no
|
Where to buy natural paint
A growing number of retailers in the UK stock natural paints. A small selection
is listed below.
BIOFA
Green Building Store, 11 Huddersfield Road, Meltham, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire
HD9 4NJ Tel: 01484 854898 www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk
Order online.
Villa Natura Ltd, 45 Gloucester Street, Brighton BN1 4EW Tel: 01273 685800
www.villanatura.co.uk
Website lists stockists of Biofa paint and includes ingredients listing.
Green Paints
The Green Shop, Cheltenham Road, Bisley, Stroud, Gloucester GL6 7BX Tel:
01452 770629 www.greenshop.co.uk
Stocks a wide range of paints and finishes including Green Paints, earthBorn
and Auro. Order online.
Auro
Available online from The Green Shop (see above). Auro paints are also
available from www.auro.co.uk
whose website includes product information sheets showing ingredients for
each product.
EarthBorn
The Earthborn Paints website (www.earthbornpaints.co.uk)
lists stockists and includes ingredients listings. Also available online
from The Green Shop (see above).
Nutshell
Order online from www.nutshellpaints.com
where you can also find the ingredients listing.
Livos
Livos paints and ingredients listings are available from the www.ecomerchant.co.uk
website.
ECOS
Phone 01795 418 218 for a brochure.
Links
- The Natural Paint Book A book on natural paint, which includes
recipes for making your own. The Natural Paint Book by Lynn Edwards and
Julia Lawless is published by Kyle Cathie Ltd. Readers can currently buy
the book at the special price of �9.99 plus p&p from The Green Shop. See
details above.
- Construction Resources 16 Great Guildford Street, London SE1
0HS Tel: 020 7450 2211 sales@ecoconstruct.com, www.constructionresources.com
Construction Resources is an ecological builders' merchant, and also provides
information and resources on ecological building.
60 second green guide
• Buy ‘natural’ paint
Generally, plant-based, water-borne paints are the best buy followed by
plant-based, solvent-borne ones with natural solvents. Try to avoid those
using titanium dioxide.
• If you have to buy conventional paint...
For conventional synthetic gloss paints, the
Green Building Digest recommended that you go for water-borne over solvent-borne.
Although there might not be much to choose environmentally between them
(water-borne are low or zero VOC whilst solvent-borne have a simpler chemistry),
the solvent fumes health and safety issue probably gives water-borne ones
the edge.(12)
References
1 Which? March 2004
2 Which? April 2003
3 Which? April
2006
4 Decorative coatings and the environment – a consumer
guide: British Coatings Federation, 1997
5 Natural paints and finishes
– Construction Resources, 17/5/06
6 Paints and Ecology by Neil
May, 11/5/05, Natural Building Technologies website http://naturalbuildingproductscouk.ntitemp.com/ecology_paints_article.htm
7 Auro website (www.auro.de) viewed July 2006
8 Earthborn
website (www.earthbornpaints.co.uk) viewed July 2006
9 EU Ecolabel
website viewed July 2006– http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/index_en.htm
10 Community Repaint website viewed in July 2006 (www.communityrepaint.org.uk)
11 Green Building Digest - Interior Decoration, Spring 1999
12
Green Building Digest - Paints & Stains for Joinery, March 1995