VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY

In the name of home maintenance, Vic and I reluctantly contributed to

the smog in our air recently. We had our house painted inside and out. As

I breathe in paint fumes from the curing oil-based enamel, I’m grateful

that paints in the future will pollute the air less than they do today.

Believe it or not, house paints are a major contributor to our area’s

air pollution. The petroleum-based solvents in paint are hydrocarbons

that react in sunlight with nitrogen oxides to form ozone, which is a

major component of smog.

While we need ozone in the upper atmosphere to protect us against

ultraviolet radiation from the sun, ozone in the air that we breathe is

not good for us. Ozone causes shortness of breath, kills lung cells and

is suspected of causing premature aging of the lungs. In fact, a study by

Kaiser Permanente showed that when ozone levels go up, hospitalizations

for respiratory and cardiac ailments also rise. It took an ozone increase

of only 10 parts per billion to increase the number of hospitalizations.

I know a lot of people believe that environmental regulation is

needless government interference with business, but there’s another

perspective. Pollution affects our health, especially the health of our

children and our elderly. That’s why we’re happy we have the Air Quality

Management District to help protect us.

The district is concerned with emissions from paints, stains and

sealers. Rules enacted by the management district in May 1999 will

substantially cut future levels of the volatile organic compounds that

are permitted in various paint products. These rules will be phased in

over a seven-year period, assuming the chemists in the paint industry are

able to develop adequate paints to meet the new standards.

The new regulations deal mainly with primers and sealers, industrial

paint and household quick-dry enamels and glossy paints such as the ones

used on our woodwork and in our bathrooms and kitchens. Stains for the

deck and various coatings for our floors and roofs will also be affected.

The reformulations that are mandated will eliminate an estimated 22

tons of volatile organic compounds a day. This is slightly more than 2%

of the total load of hydrocarbon compounds that are spewed into our air

by all sources, including cars and industry.

Paint of all types releases 58 tons of these compounds into the air

daily in the greater LA basin. This is the same amount that is produced

by 1.8 million cars. The new rules are designed to lower this by about

one-third. As our population increases, the number of houses increases.

Without these new rules, the amount of pollution produced by drying house

paint would increase proportionally. Reducing emissions from each painted

house will offset the increase in emissions from the increased number of

houses being painted.

We do our part to reduce air pollution by not painting very often.

This is the first time we’ve painted since we moved in 12 years ago. Mike

Empting and his partner Tom Short of Valley Painting in Fountain Valley

painted our house then. They did a great job, so we hired them again.

We had a good time discussing paints, air pollution and changes in the

industry with Mike and Tom. They warned us that although they use good

quality paint, our new paint job wouldn’t last as long as the old one had

because the newer, more environmentally friendly formulations now in

existence don’t cover as well as the old ones and aren’t as durable.

Unfortunately, the new Air Quality Management District rules also will

affect your pocketbook the next time you paint. The cost of a gallon of

glossy paint will go up an estimated $6 a gallon. But I’d rather pay the

price in dollars than at the cost of my health. Mike pointed out a hidden

cost. He said that oil-based enamel probably wouldn’t be available in a

few more years. The next time we paint, he and Tom will have to sand the

old oil-based paint, coat it with primer and cover it with the newly

formulated latex-based paint, adding expensive labor steps to the

painting process. If you want to help reduce air pollution, don’t paint

as often as you might like. Volatile organic compound emissions from

paint are highest during summer, when ozone pollution is at its worst, so

consider painting in the winter. And look into the low and zero compound

paints that are now available. They don’t smell bad as they dry. In

retrospect, I wish I’d known about them when I was choosing paints.

Twelve years from now, I’ll know better.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at o7

https://[email protected] .