Developing eco-friendly paint coatings wasn't always at the forefront of American manufacturers' minds. However, the House of Representatives passed the Green Chemistry Research and Development Act in 2005. While the bill didn't become law, it did bring about awareness of green chemistry practices and foretold of a future in which the coatings industry is environmentally conscious.
Federal policy and increased consumer interest drove the production and innovation of environmentally-friendly products to become the norm. These coatings are nothing new, though.
House painting In ancient Egypt, Asia, and Europe, cultures have mixed raw, natural pigments like turmeric with egg yolk or plant oil to make paint for centuries. As it is now, it had two functions: protection and décor.
Volatile organic compounds VOCs were inevitably included in mass production, which began in the 1900s; pigments, binders, additives, and solvents were mixed in as well. VOCs can terrorize cities and people, in that they create a multitude of problems, like smog formation, headaches, nausea, and long-term health issues. Paint could theoretically have as much lead and VOCs as paint manufacturers desired – that is, up until 1960.
But in the mid-'60's, the lack of paint regulation changed. By 1966, Los Angeles instituted Rule 66 to curb rampant air pollution. The Rule limited VOCs in solvents and coatings. The Clean Air Act, a federal measure drawn up to mimic L.A.'s groundbreaking law, went into effect the following year. 189 toxins were added by the United States government in 1990 to the Clean Air Act; these toxins had to be reduced by law. Pollution sources were listed by area by the EPA which also showed which carbon compounds didn't produce smog and were free of VOC regulations.
It may seem that when the government regulates something, creativity declines; however, the aforementioned policies have so far inspired new innovations. There are four main avenues of exploration for the coating industry: high-solid, water-based, and radiation-curable coatings. The most popular coating of the four was and is water-based.
The first VOC-free coatings were introduced in 1992 by the Glidden Company. These coatings unfortunately cost more than the usual coatings, so consumers didn't buy them. But other innovations weren't far behind. It seemed that petroleum-based monomers, which are key ingredients in paint films, could be replaced by monomers taken from castor or soy oil. While vegetable oil was inexpensive and plentiful, it could produce paint that didn't weather well or yellowed.
While the government was enacting policies, it didn't have any immediate plans to develop universal protocol for green coatings, so nonprofit groups decided to do so. Green Seal is one such group and the most widely known; other groups include Environmental Home Center, Building Green whose "Green Spec" director lists environmentally-friendly products online, and the U.S. Green Building Council, which is the creator of LEED certification. Among other things, LEED certification considers indoor environmental quality and materials. Green Seal has a GS-11, which is a standard for regular paint, and it looks at a product's overall environmental performance and its lifecycle – we'll cover that later on. Additionally, the EPA's Green Chemistry Institute GCI creates environmentally-friendly initiatives and awards innovators in different categories, including "alternative solvent pathways."
VOC regulations in the EU differ from America's; the EU looks at a chemical's volatility closer versus their reactivity. Hence, some quickly evaporating solvents that may pass U.S. standards won't fly with the EU, and substances with a boiling point above 250 degrees Celsius are free from regulation in the European Union. The EU's strict adherence to its policies and principles encourages the U.S. to follow these same guidelines. The coating industry in the U.S. is having to become more eco-friendly because of energy and material coats, rising insurance premiums associated with conventional products and processes, and manpower needs.
Sustainable chemistry is an exciting new trend in the eco-friendly coatings industry. Green chemistry does require total biodegradation of products the "total environmental performance," which was previously stated, and sustainable chemistry credits reusing and/or recycling as real solutions the "lifecycle approach". The main advantage to the latter strategy is it's the least expensive. While the GCI is also looking at sustainability closely, the International Center for Sustainable Chemistry is merging their power with the EPA to review cost-effective sustainable alternatives to former traditional methods.
For these green alternatives to be successful in today's market, green coatings need not only to perform as well as their conventional counterparts, but they also should be affordable and not cost more. The development of eco-friendly products by many companies is due in large part to consumer awareness of the environment. But it's not just in America that this environmental revolution is taking place – it's also currently trending in Europe and Brazil, where a the company "Braskem" has created a high-density polyethylene made from sugarcane-based ethanol. So while green coatings help our planet, they also are a smart investment for manufacturers and just make good business sense.