Guest guest Posted April 18, 2002 Report Share Posted April 18, 2002 , Thank you for your comments (below) regarding the claim made by Natural Home Products ... and of course I am sharing them with the other lists. This is the response I thought and hoped I would get, as I feel the same as you. I shared it in order to hear the discussion ... so thank you. breetheasy@... writes: << I am not entirely certain that this is true, and certainly not sure it is true universally (i.e. for all low-voc paints). I wrote to the website and asked them for their substantiation in posting this comment, and for their source, and I am still awaiting their reply. My understanding of VOC's is that they are more about measured levels of volatile emissions than about odor, and it would seem that adding another chemical would only increase those emissions.... Without more information on what this chemical added is and what brands it impacts, I am not comfortable using or distributing this information. Without the support it seems like a scare tactic to get people to buy their product. I would rather see them provide complete information so people can make truly informed decisions. On a personal note, I have been places that were freshly painted with low VOC paints within a week and could entirely tolerate them -- not just the odor of the place (we know that EI reactions are not so much about the smell as about the chemicals present). The No VOC paints are even more tolerable. And actually a healthy friend using one of the natural paints couldn't stay in her house for a few days because of the smell of that paint. No VOC's there -- just a bad odor. If you do hear any substantiation on this from any of the other lists you sent this to I would appreciate your passing it along. >> This is the comment on the website, link below: << Low VOC? paints simply add a chemical dulling fragrance to regular paint to eliminate the strong fragrance of the other chemicals in it. >> http://www.naturalhomeproducts.com/1/1750auro.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2002 Report Share Posted April 19, 2002 Most of us over age 50 can remember our fathers telling us to only paint the house with oil based paint, since those cheaper latex (water based) paints won't last. Now, most household paints use water as the primary solvent. Oil based paints which require petroleum distillate solvent are gradually being phased out. Even automibile manufacturers are heading toward (though not yet) water based paints, due to the improvements in durability. Even now they are using low VOC (volatile organic compounds) electrospray technology. Household water based latex paints are now as durable as oil paints of just a few years ago. Water alone is not a good solvent for paint compounds, otherwise the paint could not be washed or rained on (even Natural Home Products paints). Because different paint brands use different volatile organic co-solvents and emulsifiers, chemically sensitive people may react strongly with one brand, but not another. Therefore, it may be advisable to paint small areas only to see how you react, preferably in weather warm enough windows can be opened for thorough ventilation. Varnishes still predominantly use organic solvents. But even these vary widely in aromatic content. The higher the aromatic level, probably the higher likelihood of adverse reaction in sensitive people. ----Original Message Follows---- From: Stinkypouf@... Reply- breetheasy@... CC: chemical-illnet@..., sprayno , , MCS-CI-Heal Subject: [] Re: AURO & LOW VOC PAINTS Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 13:35:22 EDT , Thank you for your comments (below) regarding the claim made by Natural Home Products ... and of course I am sharing them with the other lists. This is the response I thought and hoped I would get, as I feel the same as you. I shared it in order to hear the discussion ... so thank you. breetheasy@... writes: <<> I am not entirely certain that this is true, and certainly not sure it is > true universally (i.e. for all low-voc paints). I wrote to the website and > asked them for their substantiation in posting this comment, and for their > source, and I am still awaiting their reply. My understanding of VOC's is > that they are more about measured levels of volatile emissions than about > odor, and it would seem that adding another chemical would only increase > those emissions.... Without more information on what this chemical added is > and what brands it impacts, I am not comfortable using or distributing this > information. Without the support it seems like a scare tactic to get > people to buy their product. I would rather see them provide complete > information so people can make truly informed decisions. > > On a personal note, I have been places that were freshly painted with low > VOC paints within a week and could entirely tolerate them -- not just the > odor of the place (we know that EI reactions are not so much about the > smell as about the chemicals present). The No VOC paints are even more > tolerable. And actually a healthy friend using one of the natural paints > couldn't stay in her house for a few days because of the smell of that > paint. No VOC's there -- just a bad odor. > > If you do hear any substantiation on this from any of the other lists you > sent this to I would appreciate your passing it along. >> This is the comment on the website, link below: << Low VOC? paints simply add a chemical dulling fragrance to regular paint to eliminate the strong fragrance of the other chemicals in it. >> <A HREF= " http://www.naturalhomeproducts.com/1/1750auro.html " >http://www.naturalhome\ products.com/1/1750auro.html</A> _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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