Formulating With Zero-VOC Multifunctional Paint Additives
A Formulation Optimization Pathway
By Richard Henderson, Senior Customer Application Specialist; Kent Alexander, Marketing Manager; Mary Redmond, Senior Customer Applications Specialist; and John Quinn, Applications Technologist, ANGUS Chemical Co., Buffalo Grove, IL
Increasingly stringent environmental regulations, such as lower volatile organic compounds (VOCs), have forced paint manufacturers to change how they make coatings. The regulation of VOCs is due to their atmospheric reactivity with oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in the presence of sunlight to form tropospheric ozone, more commonly known as smog, which poses a serious health impact upon those affected. To counter this, the Federal Clean Air Act (40 C.F.R.) was designed to control air pollution on a national level. Administration of this law falls under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in coordination with state and local governments.