1. Indoor, Household Paint and VOC Levels Behr Premium Plus (Zero VOC)
Abstract
Peter Bellefeuille, CHEM 545 Green Chemistry Project
Behr Premium Plus (Zero VOC)
Behr Marquee
(Low VOC)
Initial Tray Weight (g)
0.623
2.656
Initial Amount of Paint (g)
25.020
12 HOURS OF DRYING
Paint and Tray Weight Post Drying (g)
18.189
19.608
Amount of VOC Lost (g)
7.455
8.068
Interior paints are arguably one of the most widely used resources in households around the world. With that being said, what is the cost of these durable paints in terms of air quality due to VOC’s? This study hopes to answer this research question. The basic method of investigation is to perform simple, passive evaporation to determine loss of VOC’s. . These findings will help to show the public how true paint companies are to there proclamation of VOC levels in paints.
Methods
Materials –
Behr Premium Plus Interior/Exterior paint
Behr Marquee Interior/Exterior Paint
Fume hood
Two weigh trays
Woods stirring rods
2 Plastic pipettes
Conditions – Room temperature in fume hood
Procedure –
Open both paint samples and stir each well.
Tare the scale and add 25 grams of paint in each respective tray (Behr Premium Plus in one and Behr Marquee in the other).
Once each is weighed to exactly 25g of each respective paint, place in fume hood to passively evaporate for approximately 12 hours. This will allow the VOC’s to evaporate.
Once all paints are dry, remove each from the fume and place each on scale.
Subtract the previously recorded weight of the trays from the new weight. Then subtract the new weight from the initial 25g. This figure is the paint without VOC’s.
Hazards present include VOC exposure, risk of ingestion of paint, and eye contamination. Wear protective eyewear and masks throughout.
Introduction
Volatile organic compounds are solvents that are released into the air as paint dries (Diclerico, 2008). These VOC’s can cause headaches and drowsiness, unpleasant smells, and even has harmful effects on the Ozone layer.
Originally, most paints were solvent-based and carried very high levels of VOC’s, but were effective in application and drying.
In this experiment, two Behr paints will be passively evaporated to see the difference in VOC content. The Behr Premium Plus is said to contain zero VOC's, whereas the Behr Marquee is said to maintain low VOC's.
This experiment aims to show the difference of low and no VOC's buy determining how many grams are lost.
Furthermore, this experiment hopes to make consumers more aware of what is in paint and ultimately how green chemistry has made todays paint more safe.
Discussion
Analysis
Behr Marquee lost more evaporate because it is said to have <50g/L of VOC’s, in comparison to Premium Plus having <5g/L
A certain amount of water evaporated, explaining why the No VOC lost anything at all
Points of Improvement
G/L should have been calculated to relate to above
A third, solvent-based sample should have been used
Multiple samples of each should have been performed to get more reliability in results
Water should have been first evaporated to get a pure result
Green and Organic Chemistry Relation
These paints are meeting the ideals of Green chemistry by (4) designing safer chemicals and (5) maintaining safer solvents and axillaries
Meeting the ideals of organic chemistry through phase changing via passive evaporation
Results
After allowing the paints to dry, it was found that the “Low VOC” Behr Marquee did in fact lose more weight than that of the “No VOC” Behr Premium. In other words, more VOC’s were lost in the low VOC than that of the no VOC.
References
Application Information Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2016, from
Behr Process Corporation. (2015). Behr Marquee [Technical Data Sheet]. Retrieved from
Behr Process Corporation. (2015). Behr Premium Plus [Technical Data Sheet]. Retrieved from
Diclerico, D. (2008, April 28). What are VOCs in paint, and is more or less of them better? Retrieved November 20, 2016, from