Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be simply defined as chemical compounds that once exposed to air will emit unhealthful vapors.  Of course, ‘organic’ in this sense does not mean what it does in the supermarket vegetable aisle.  VOC ingredients can be natural or synthetic with hundreds of combinations in the products Americans use everyday.  Unfortunately, our use does not make them safe. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effort to remove these VOCs from paints, sealers and primers is finally seeing some results.

The paint odors that smell terrible to us are often formaldehyde and methane.  If you had a biology class in high school, you remember what formaldehyde smells like.  Methane is that odor you may associate with rotting landfills or animal manure management.  VOCs are the main reason why paint manufacturers’ labels advise consumers to use adequate ventilation until paint is dry.

These vapors can contribute to sick building syndrome and cause reactions in asthmatics and chemically sensitive people.  VOCs are believed to be one of the components within our environment that greatly contribute to depletion in the ozone layer as well.  Since people spend 90% of their time indoors, it seems obvious why apartment managers and residents benefit from the use of non-VOC paints.  The use of non-VOC or low-VOC paints can and should also be used as part of your marketing strategy.

Efforts to eradicate the ‘bad’ volatile organic compounds initially spurred amazing creativity by the manufacturers who had used them.  Rather than invest in non-VOC compounds, they re-mixed organic compounds and gave them different names.  Unfortunately re-mixed and re-branded, the chemical mixtures still emitted these unhealthful vapors.

One of the entities who addressed the issue was GreenSeal, a premier independent eco-labeler, which ungraded, broke down and clarified the list of VOC chemical names in May of 2008.   This list made it difficult for companies to reformulate and rename the compounds and many of them have since created products to meet the lower VOC requirements.  For legitimate marketing purposes many paint manufacturers have designed their own eco-labels and are calling their new product lines ‘green’.  However, GreenLandlady continues to recommend that consumers buy products certified by third-party independent labels like GreenSeal, Greenguard and EcoLogo.

Yolo Colorhouse of Portland, Oregon, was the first paint manufacturer to meet and exceed GreenSeal’s newest GS-11 paint standards.  With a choice of 47 non-VOC emitting paint colors, they may also be the leader for artistic palette preferences.

Here are a few price comparisons, but please remember that different dealers will sell some lines for less.    Five gallon orders receive a volume price and designers and contractors generally get a discount off retail prices.

Benjamin Moore Natura meets GS-ll standards and sells its flat, eggshell, and semi-gloss for $49.99 per gallon.

Ecohaus sells Yolo Colorhouse zero-VOC paints for $39.95 per gallon

Dunn Edwards has many products that are both LEED compliant and meet GreenSeal’s GS-11 Standards, but I found it impossible to find an actual price on-line without contacting their representatives.

Lowes had some low-VOC paints, but the only zero-VOC product I could find on their site was Olympic’s interior premium primer for $14.88 a gallon.

Home Depot markets a non-VOC brand called Freshaire which is Greenguard certified.  The flat paint sells for $35.98, the eggshell for $37.98 and the semi-gloss for $39.98 a gallon.  If you are wondering about the definition of eggshell, it is not quite a flat but not really glossy either.  It is quite easy to clean compared to flat paint.

Several states are now requiring non or low-VOC paints in schools and municipal buildings which has added to the competition for better products.  Here are a few more sources for paints, sealants and primers that meet GS-11 guidelines:

• InPro Corporation
• Master Paints & Chemical Co.
• Miller Paints
• Randolph Products
• Rust-Oleum

This month the Suggested Control Measure approved by the California Air Resources Board went into effect and replicated the GreenSeal GS-11 paint standards.   This board’s actions, eliminating over 1,000 chemical compounds previously found in paint, also suggests the guidelines will soon become the national standard.

I am ashamed to admit my garage has a collection of paints like ‘sage’ (too dark for the northwest) and ‘eggshell’ (too yellow for a Westside bedroom), which my husband refers to as my corner of shame.  Before I decided to re-paint, I wish I had known about another of Yolo Colorhouse’s scientists/artists’ creative innovations, poster size paint sampling.  These samples are a boon for designers, of course, but they also help the rest of us eliminate wasted paint.

The following mini-primer has helped me reduce and almost  completely eliminate VOCs from the paint I use:

1. Start a paint purchase by reading the paint can label.  This may sound like one of those ‘don’t put your cat in the microwave’ instructions, but not everything about paint is obvious.
2. Use third party certifiers like GreenSeal, Greenguard and EcoLogo to accurately determine the amount of VOCs in painting products.
3. Start with the non-VOC paints as a first step, but be aware that adding tints to paint often raises the VOC of the final product.  A truly great supplier will provide you with a  final VOC number for any color mixed.
4. Even water-based paints can have a negative impact on health and the environment, so although they smell and seem healthier, again, read that label carefully please.
5. If paint meets GreenSeal’s GS-11 standards, a heavily tinted paint may contain some VOCs, but it will certainly contain lower amounts of VOCs than standard paints.
6. Eco-labelers consider the full life of a product and if disposal or recycling is possible, it may raise a low-range VOC paint high enough for a certification.
7. A responsible paint manufacturer’s label will always:
   • Encourage consumers to buy only what they need
   • Provide explicit recycling and proper disposal instructions
8. Although we all want to save ourselves a new paint job – waste is very un-green – remember leftover paint will not ‘match’ in as little as a few months.  Light induces color fading and exterior walls experience weather.
9. Leftover latex paint can often be recycled and made into a new product, so don’t automatically think ‘landfill’.
10. Certified paints with low or no VOCs have less impact on the  interior building environmental quality and the external atmosphere.
11. With regard to durability and coverage, the eco-labelers’ certifications require that non-VOC and low-VOC paints perform at least as well as conventional products.

So now that you have been well-primed, go color.