New paint for interior wall paints and international paint manufacturers need to be rational

A series of standards, such as the “Restriction of harmful substances in interior decoration interior wall paints”, have been introduced since last year. It is understood that the new standard imposes stricter requirements on the content of VOCs in the paint market. Deputy Secretary-General Yang Yuande of the China Coatings Industry Association stated that “this is a strict criterion. The purpose is still to get in touch with foreign countries, so as to improve the environmental friendliness of coatings."

The new GB18581 "Restriction of harmful substances in solvent-based wood coatings for interior decoration materials", the new GB18582 "Restriction of harmful substances in interior decoration materials for interior wall coatings", "Restriction of harmful substances in waterborne wood coatings for interior decoration materials", etc. National mandatory standards have imposed more stringent restrictions on the content of harmful substances in interior wall paints. The content of the VOC content of the water-containing coating is ≤ 48 g/l, and the VOC content of the water-free coating is ≤ 120 g/l. VOC is a generic name for volatile organic compounds that are harmful to the human body. Formaldehyde is a type of VOC.

China's paint industry is currently implementing the national standard is the "Quality Limits of Indoor Decorating Materials, Interior Wall Paint Harmful Substances" issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China in December 2001. The old standard stipulates that the interior wall latex paint VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) ≤ 200 g/L, that is to say, as an important indicator to determine indoor air pollution, the VOC content in each liter of coating is not higher than 200 g ie in accordance with the national The eligibility criteria, while European and American standards are much higher than this.

The person in charge of the Coatings Association said in an interview with reporters from home and abroad: “Because the interior wall paint is water-based, the lower the VOC content, the better. Now we advocate concepts such as ultra-low VOC, zero-VOC, total net taste, and aldehyde net. Therefore, paint companies should comply with market needs and social trends and actively implement production in accordance with the new standards."

Paint manufacturers hit the brand of environmental protection

“The paint is good or bad, but the key is environmental protection.” Environmental protection has become the hottest concept in the paint market. It is often heard that people drink paint and paint on people's bodies; however, “VOC” symbols are used in paint advertising and sales personnel's mouths. It really puzzled many consumers.

The reporter visited nearly 10 shops selling paint and learned that when reporters wanted to buy green paint, salespeople enthusiastically stated that the environmental protection of their paints sold was absolutely free of pollution. Even shops that sell at very low prices can come up with The publicity materials for benzene, formaldehyde, heavy metals, and other harmful substances have even claimed that their products have reached European standards. When a reporter asked whether its “environmental protection products” had passed the inspection of authoritative departments, the sales staff couldn’t speak more.

Consumers may choose to purchase paints. Perhaps the most concern is environmental protection. However, some consumers have found themselves in an environmental misconception that as long as they have high environmental indicators, they are good. In this regard, the relevant coating experts believe that as a product that directly enters the home, the national standard is a threshold, and products that meet this standard are harmless to the human body and are environmentally friendly. Do not advocate too much emphasis on the hype of various environmental indicators, if the coating really reaches zero VOC, the physical properties of the coating will be reduced.

Can zero VOCs really do it?

"Natural" and "environmental protection" are the flags that paint products often play, and how much VOC content is the unique secret of some companies to attract customers. And now many products simply hit the banner of zero VOC.

Is zero VOC really realizable? A brand coating agent company manager Zhang said that the current development trend of the paint industry is indeed zero VOC, odorless health paint. However, due to factors such as technical difficulties, there are almost no zero-VOC environmental protection coatings on the market. Taking emulsion paint as an example, additives such as coalescents and antifreeze agents are the main sources of VOCs in paints. Some paints will reduce VOCs by reducing their use, but their performance will be reduced.

Zhang Jianxin, Director of China Coatings Industry Association, said: “We are advocating ultra-low VOC and zero VOC. Some famous brands are working hard in this direction. As for whether it is completely zero, we don’t pursue this concept, but zero VOC is the direction of enterprise development. "Experts believe that if we can reduce the VOC content in paint to less than 1 gram per liter, we can really play a role of "safety and environmental protection."