Former Utne Reader senior editor Keith Goetzman on environmental issues from climate change to composting.
Water-based paints have a reputation as a healthier, greener alternative to yesteryear’s oil-based paints, but a new study has found that children exposed to fumes from water-based paints have a heightened risk of asthma and allergies. The news is unsettling to any home-owning parent—like me—who has sought out low-VOC water-based paints to decorate a child’s room.
The researchers found that children exposed via bedroom paint to PGEs—the compounds propylene glycol and glycol ethers, used in many water-based paints—were two to four times more likely to suffer from allergies or asthma. Environmental Health News reports on the study, which was recently published in the journal of the Public Library of Science, PLoS ONE:
Since freshly painting a new baby’s room is a common DIY project for proud parents, it was this passage that seems to demand an exclamation point:
The compounds can remain inside homes for months or even years, notes Environmental Health News. They are used not just in paints but also water-based varnishes and cleaning fluids such as glass cleaners.
Even if you don’t have kids, it’s surprising and frustrating to find that a widely used paint ingredient, often employed in “green” paints, appears to be harmful to human health. If it can cause allergies and asthma in kids, I certainly don’t want to breathe it either.
I’m sure the green paint industry is quietly wetting its pants about the possibility of this research being borne out by more studies. Not only do many low-VOC paints contain PGEs, so do some “no-VOC” paints that have them at levels low enough to wear the misleading label. And the tints added to color paints often contain them as well.
More research will surely follow, and I’ll track the issue here at Wild Green. In the meantime, if you’re concerned enough by this news to avoid PGEs altogether, you’ll want to explore low-toxin, nontoxic, or natural paints such as those made by Safecoat, Keim or Yolo, or the milk paints made by several different companies.
And you might want to watch what you eat: Propylene glycol is an FDA approved food-grade additive.
Source: Environmental Health News