Painting Your Home Without Toxins

To beautify and decorate our homes, we often choose to paint a room vibrant green to bring some life back into a neglected space. To refurnish our coffee table, we may strip it and paint it a glossy cherry. But in making these little changes, we may be introducing toxins into our home and lungs.

Wall paints and finishes emit low level toxic fumes and chemicals for years after their first application. The source of the problem is the VOC’s in the paint. This stands for volatile organic compounds.

Fortunately many companies are producing natural paints and paints with no-VOC,

Natural paints refer to paints that are made from natural raw ingredients. These natural ingredients vary in their base content. They can be based from water, plant oils, resins, clay, chalk, or milk. These paints are the safest because there are no toxic chemicals in the ingredients. This is the best alternative for people with allergies or chemical sensitivities. These come a in a wide array of vibrant colors and textures.

Zero VOC paints are a bit misleading in their title. This means that the paint has 5grams of VOC per liter or less. So there are residues of VOC’s, and people with asthma or respiratory issue should avoid even these small amounts of VOC.

Some benefits of using Zero Voc or natural based paints are they are better for the painters and for the dwellers of the household. They reduce waste and contamination in landfills and groundwater. These paints also prevent further ozone depletions through paints and finishes. Natural based paints are the easiest to clean up.

Be sure to ask your local hardware store about these paint selections. Make the smartest choice for your home and the loved ones that live there.