The effect of painting at home with a modern paint

The effect on Indoor Air Quality of painting at home while resident stays at home has been discussed. This paper presents a case study of the effects. A normal Scandinavian apartement has been refurnished with new paint on the walls and ceilings and the VOC emissions have been followed during eight weeks. Two types of low-emitting paint was selected for the study. A paint shop rolled two layers of new paint on the walls and ceiling in two rooms in the flat. Parallell the same paints was applied to glass plates according to the Scandinavian trade standard for paint and investigated with the FLEC method in the laboratory. Emission were measured 2 days and 1,2,4 and 8 weeks after the last application of paint. Only a few components such as glycols have a pronounced emissions in a modern paint. Traces of other chemicals are observed. The emissions from the painted glass surfaces are higher in the beginning and decrease faster than the emissions from the surfaces in the apartment. The two types of paint demonstrate larger difference in the laboratory than in the apartment. Secondary emissions of previous events in the apartment become evident after repainting. For true low emitting modern waterborne paint the emissions decrease to the initial level within the period of four weeks. From the emission data available no apparent risk should be perceived. This study have not concerned the use of biocides in water-based paint.