VOC free paint, Low VOC paint, and natural finishes.  What's the big deal?

Being eco friendly and 'green' is the in thing these days.  The do-it-yourself channels are stuffing their time slots with celebrities showing how green and environmentally friendly their homes are, and companies can't get happily little earth friendly stickers on their products fast enough.  The problem is that a little too much hype is getting mixed into things, and that brings me to the subject of this post, paint!

Over the last couple of years, as demand for healthier, and more eco friendly products has risen, paint manufacturers have scrambled to fill the void.   At first the Low-VOC paints were marginal at best, not very color stable and only came in flat or eggshell finishes.  Now however, there is a veritable tidal wave of 'green' paint pushing its way into the market in every color and sheen.  Even Home Depot has gotten on the band wagon with their FreshAire line of paint (you know it has to be good since they added the extra 'e' to it!)

Low VOC and VOC free, what's the difference? 
By legal definition any paint that has less than 5g/liter of VOC's can be defined as VOC-Free.  Note that they aren't actually VOC free, just that they just have a lot less than other paints which may contain 60+ grams per liter of paint.  That works out to about half a pound per gallon that will eventually boil off into the air in your home.  Low VOC paints in comparison generally come in below 50g/liter for VOC's.

But what does it all mean? 
The main concern is your indoor air quality.  The VOC's we are talking about are things like Ethylene glycol and the very familiar formaldehyde. These are the chemicals that will work their way out of the paint, with the majority boiling off in the first few days after the paint is applied.  Sources disagree on how long paint continues to off-gas VOC's but I would expect them to taper off and continue to emit some level of VOC's for several years albeit in very small quantities. These chemicals are listed as causing eye and lung irritation, allergic reaction, and long term exposure (like for us in the trades) can do bad things to the Kidneys and Liver.  They just aren't things you want to be breathing!

OK, so what if those chemicals REALLY bug you? 
There are those of you out there that can not tolerate ANY VOC's and I have to say life must be rough because VOC's are everywhere!  There are options for wall coatings though, all using more natural ingredients such as clay, natural resins, natural oils and so on.  For those that are very sensitive these are definitely the way to go, and will only set you back slightly more than using high end VOC Free paint.  Real Milk Paint for example can be ordered online for just under $50 a gallon.

So what paint do I suggest?
For the most part I feel comfortable putting low VOC paint on my clients homes if they aren't going to be moving into them for a few days. By then the majority of the VOC's have left the paint, and if the home is ventilated, will have dissipated.   In general though, I prefer to use a Zero VOC paint such as Miller Paint's Acro Pure.  This reduces their (and my painting crew's) exposure to anything nasty and lets me sleep good at night.

What is right for you?
That ultimately is your decision.  But for my clients I prefer to absorb the cost of using a little better paint to make their homes a little more healthy and possibly their lives a little bit better.  In general though, considering that the cost of the paint you use to paint your home is only a small portion of the total bill I always recommend using the best paint possible!