Over the past two decades, government regulations and customer preferences have led the coatings industry to reduce VOCs in coatings formulations. While the U.S. EPA still has a VOC content limit of 250 g/L for most coatings,1 many local jurisdictions within the United States have adopted more stringent VOC limitations − one of the primary ones being the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). This jurisdiction covers the Los Angeles area along with surrounding areas, and has the role of improving air quality within this district.
The original limit was 250 g/L for a flat architectural paint, but this was reduced in 2008 to 50 g/L.2 VOCs can improve coalescence, flow and leveling, open time, and even freeze-thaw stability. In previous VOC limit reductions the industry was able to reduce VOCs without much impact on the formulation; however, the new 50 g/L limit has caused coatings manufacturers to re-examine their formulations and look at new ways to reduce VOCs. In some cases, manufacturers had to re-invent their coatings to meet the new standard.