Protecting the environment, but how effectively are we doing it?

Everything we do leaves an impact on the environment, and we are often unaware of how we are ruining the future of our wonderful life on this beautiful planet. We all need to know that protecting the environment is no longer an option but an obligation at this stage.

​Hence, it is vital to gain more knowledge about our footprint on the planet in the very first place. Not only should we take conscious actions towards making improvements by conducting more balanced life cycle analyses but also putting more effort into understanding the tread-offs of our systems. 

Raising awareness around environmental issues will result in new actions and policies, minimizing the threat to human health and our planet. Apart from all the known emissions from existing infrastructures, there are many other environmental pollutants that we are not well aware of. For instance, paints and coatings are widely used everywhere in our lives, and not all of us are acquainted with their potential danger to health and the environment.
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Therefore, through the upcoming series of blog posts, we aim to highlight the main paint and coatings’ key features and hidden environmental threats. 

Dangerous byproducts of industrial paint

​Paint is not only primarily used for decoration and protection but also for the maintenance of existing products and infrastructures. It typically includes: ​

• Pigment: to add color, coverage and control gloss, and usually divided into two groups: Prime and Extender. 
• Resin: the binder to keep the pigment particles together and provide adhesion to the surface painted. 
• Solvent: to act as a carrier for the pigments and resin 
• Additives: to enhance specific properties such as drying and sag resistance, mould resistance, ease of brushing, and scuff resistance. ​​

To produce each of these components, various chemical substances are used. During the process, some byproduct waste and pollutants can also be released, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulates matter (PM), oil and resins, waste paint, waste solvents and wastewater [1].  
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VOCs derived from solvents belong to a particular class of hazardous air pollutants. These chemical species have raised environmental concerns for two main reasons: human health issues due to toxicity and ozone formation through photochemical reactions with nitrogen oxides. We evidently know that exposure to VOCs can cause both acute and chronic illnesses. 

​In the following table, you can find a list of these side effects that common solvents such as xylene, toluene and TDI have on the human body. Most of these data have been obtained from occupational studies or from research studies conducted on animals. However, these health effects still need further research and examination, especially in terms of low-level or intermittent VOCs exposures [2]. ​

But how much of these hazardous VOCs are emitted during painting operations?

In order to provide a better quantitative insight about emitted VOCs, we briefly describe two real-world scenarios here.

Automobile painting process 
Automobile paint serves several purposes. On the one hand, it provides scratch, wear and weather resistance. On the other hand, it makes the car appealing to customers.
The car paint conventionally consists of three layers: Primer, Basecoat & Clearcoat (varnish)​.

Most VOCs pollutants in the automobile life cycle are released during the manufacturing 
phase, while the painting stage is responsible for more than 90% of the emissions [3], [4]. 
​As reported in the literature, typical car manufacturers use around 6.5 kg/vehicle of solvents [5].

​Additionally, considering 10.8 million passenger cars manufactured in the European Union in 2020 [6]; a straightforward calculation leaves us with more than 70000 tons of solvent emitted only within the EU in that year.   

Shipyard painting 
One of the most important sources of pollutants from shipyards is the VOCs from the painting solvents. Marine paints VOC content in solvent-based paints can amount to 800 g/L, but it is much lower in thinned paints, and it can be something approximately 100 g/L [7], [8].

In terms of size and value, the marine coating was worth $11 billion and on a volume of more than 2000 million liters in 2016 [9]. Despite the fact that all these 2000 million liters of paint are not all solvent-based, the emitted amount of VOCs released are still beyond our expectations (~200000 ton). 

These two examples of coating in the automobile and maritime industries clearly show that besides the well-known forms of pollution from burning fossil fuels, there are other types of pollution that we yet need to build knowledge around.

VOC gases emitted into the air from the painting processes of these industries are harmful by themselves. However, similar to other pollutants, the extent and nature of the health effect will depend on many factors, such as the level of exposure and length of time exposed.  

​To sum up, the considerable amount of the VOCs released to the environment as the byproducts of coating in these two industries heighten the need for new VOCs reduction technologies such as eco-friendly paint formulas and innovative coating application methods. 

So, what are our options to reduce VOCs? ​

Attempts to reduce the solvent contents and eventually VOCs have resulted in the development of water-based, radiation-cured, and powdered paints. However, the use of these reformulations has been limited for multiple reasons [5], [10]. Long-term solutions for decreasing VOCs pollution would require more reduction than what is achieved so far only by reformulations.

For this reason, developing technologies that increase the feasibility of capturing VOCs during the coating process is the key to accomplish clean environmental goals.  

In this context, young companies such as Qlayers will play a significant role in the upcoming era of addressing health and environmental problems. Qlayers has designed a patented​ hood system that can extract the paint VOCs and PMs, preventing them from being released into the air as well as collecting the portion of the VOCs evaporated during the atomization and spray development.  

​Furthermore, this technology reduces paint waste due to overspray prevention. As a result, less paint is needed for applying a certain layer thickness and eventually less amounts of VOCs being released into the air.    

In the next articles, we will dig deeper into environmental issues of spray coating, and technologies deployed in paint and coating industry. 
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Let's work together!
Now more than ever it is vital to make a shift towards developing and deploying environmentally conscious solutions. Qlayers offers coating contractors and asset owners a highly efficient coating solution while keeping safety of people and our planet in mind. 
For more information about our services or book a demo, contact us.
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Author

Ghobad Bagheri is the lead research engineer for the Qlayers, Collaborative consultant for Yummet, and Recognised researcher in combustion. Ghobad received a double PhD in Chemical and Aero-Thermo Mechanical engineering in a project funded by the European Commission through Horizon 2020 program, Marie Curie Action, "CLEAN-Gas".
​Ghobad is a full-time learner and part-time writer, with an in-depth understanding of Renewable Energies, Combustion, Fluid Dynamics, and pollution reduction evidenced by authoring more than 15 scholarly articles and having those same pieces cited in over 550 peer-reviewed articles.

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References
​1. U. B. Celebi and N. Vardar, “Investigation of VOC emissions from indoor and outdoor painting processes in shipyards,” Atmos. Environ., vol. 42, no. 22, pp. 5685–5695, Jul. 2008, doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.03.003. 
​2. C. M. Lin and K. K. Y. Leung, “Controlling volatile organic air pollutants from industry’,” Inst. Ind. Eng. Annu. Issue, pp. 41–44, 1996. 
3. K. D. Weiss, “Paint and coatings: A mature industry in transition,” Prog. Polym. Sci., vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 203–245, 1997, doi: 10.1016/S0079-6700(96)00019-6. 
4. US President’s Council on Sustainable Development, “PCSD Auto Team Report. Summary of demonstration projects, Overview of the eco- efficiency working teams,” 1995. 
5. B. R. Kim, “VOC emissions from automotive painting and their control: A review,” Environ. Eng. Res., vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 1–9, 2011, doi: 10.4491/eer.2011.16.1.001. 
6. ECEA, “EU passenger car production | ACEA - European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association,” 2019. https://www.acea.be/statistics/article/eu-passenger-car-production (accessed Jun. 07, 2021). 
7. Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, “Small Entity Compliance Guide, National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Architectural Coatings,” 1999. Accessed: Jun. 07, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/300038SW.TXT?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1991+Thru+1994&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=. 
8. Emission Inventory Improvement Program, “Architectural Surface Coating,” 1995. 
9. “Marine Coatings Market Share Forecast 2024 - Industry Statistics Report.” https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/marine-coatings-market (accessed Jun. 07, 2021). 
10. S. Papasavva, S. Kia, J. Claya, and R. Gunther, “Characterization of automotive paints: An environmental impact analysis,” Prog. Org. Coatings, vol. 43, no. 1–3, pp. 193–206, 2001, doi: 10.1016/S0300-9440(01)00182-5.