What are VOC’s?
 VOC’s
are Volatile Organic Compounds. In the world of floor coatings and industrial
coatings VOC’s are found in the form of solvents other than water. Solvents such
as Zyleene, Naphtha, toluene, and isopropyl alcohol are the most common source
of VOC’s in industrial coatings.
VOC regulations measure the solvent levels in grams per liter
(g/l). Without getting into the specific regulations, the acceptable level of
solvents in coatings in these restricted areas is about 10% by volume in
Southern California, 25% by volume in the rest of California. The EPA
restrictions are at about 45% by volume for the remainder of the country. The
amount of allowed VOC varies with how the product is classified (i.e. floor
coating, mastic, primer, metallic, waterproofing, etc.) It is also important to
note that there are some solvents that are exempt from VOC laws.
The government has become increasingly more restrictive as to
the amount of VOC’s that industrial coatings may contain. Most are national laws
and a few states like California and New England have even more restrictive
laws.
Not since the outlaw of lead in paint has the industrial
coating industry had to vastly change to meet these increasingly stricter laws.
While these laws are meant to protect the environment and health of workers
there are some major drawbacks with the limiting of solvents. The first is cost.
By combining equal parts of a 100% solids epoxy resin that may cost $50.00 per
gallon with solvent like Zyleene at a cost of $10.00 gallon and doubling the
coverage rate the effective cost per gallon is reduced by 40%. The next is ease
of application and depth of penetration. Solvents allow for a thinner viscosity
allowing for a paint like consistency and promoting deeper absorption into
porous substrates like concrete. One other is surface tolerance. A petroleum
solvent like Zyleene will allow for better adhesion to oily substrates and the
use of isopropyl alcohol allows for a more moisture tolerant product all of
which are valuable qualities especially in a primer.
One should also keep in mind that 100% solids epoxies
sometimes known as odorless epoxies and solvent free epoxies (0% VOC) as they
are legally described may actually contain 0-5 g/l solvent bound up into the
chemical structure.
There are also shipping/mailing restrictions on solvent based
and non-solvent based coatings. Solvent based coatings may not be shipped by
aircraft. Some carriers like United Parcel Service and the US Mail system
prohibit the shipping of these products in part for this reason. In general most
VOC containing industrial coatings must be shipped by over the road truck.
In summary, when considering the use of a solvent based
coating one must know the product and the laws of the state where they are to be
used.
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Vanguard Concrete Coating
229 Crescent NE
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503
Phone: 616-742-1540
Fax: 616-742-3793
Ian@vanguardconcretecoating.com
© Copyright 2010. All
rights reserved by Vanguard Concrete Coating of Grand Rapids, MI. For
residential floors our service area includes the Central, Southwest, & West
Michigan cities of Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Traverse City, Mount Pleasant,
Midland, Bay City, Saginaw, Flint, Howell, Jackson, Lansing, Kalamazoo, South
Haven, Holland, Grand Haven and small cites in-between. For industrial &
commercial clients we service a larger area including Detroit & Ann Arbor, Ohio
/ OH, Northern Indiana / IN, and Northeastern Illinois / IL cities.
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