Page Three: Environmentally Friendly Coatings

With the government playing a larger role in environmental issues and pollution the restrictions on the coatings industry have increased. The Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990 have limited the amount of solvents, or volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that can be emmitted from a coating. These increase regulations have forced the coatings industry to change its gears. The current coatings research to meet these regulations is based on low or no solvents. There are four main categories of environmentally friendly coatings:

Waterborne Coatings - these coatings use water as the continuous phase instead of solvents.
Ultra-Violet Curable Coatings - use UV light to cure the coatings
High Solids - the percentage of solvents is less than 30%
Powder Coatings - the entire coating is a solid and contains NO solvents

The reason for these "friendly" coatings is the results of restrictions on VOCs. What is a VOC you say? The definition of a VOC is any compound of carbon evaporating from a paint or coating film under specific test conditions. Water and exempt volatile solvents are not included as VOCs.

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