The Low-VOC Future: New Opportunities in Tinting System Design
Editor’s Note: This article is the second installment in a four-part series on Integrated Tinting Systems.
In the past, retailers were fined for selling paint that exceeded the legal VOC limits. Limits are set both for ready-to-use paint and for the colorants used in the tinting of base paints. In 2011, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) introduced a regulation to reduce VOC levels in colorants for architectural coatings (excluding maintenance coatings, which are not water-based) to 50 g/L effective January 1, 2014. The VOC limit for colorants used for tinting solvent-based industrial maintenance coatings remains at 600 g/L.