Reprinted from the ACJ - August, 1993
Worldwide demand for latex is at an all-time high. Most large users are on allocation and small users are scrambling to get any at all. And you thought you were the only one to switch to latex water-reducible radiator paint in your shop! It just goes to show how powerful a group NARSA and the radiator repair industry are.
OK, so there is another use for latex that may be a bit more lucrative and a good deal more important to society as a whole. But even as that market is expanding (no pun intended), the use of latex paint is following suit.
Because of increasing regulations and a desire to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals in our lives, many shops are switching to latex water-reducible paints. Are these paints safer to use than the solvent based types? In a word, yes. Well, that's it for this month, join me next issue when the subject will be…OK, maybe we should point out the hazards that do exist.
First let's note the hazard that doesn't exist: fire. Latex paints are water-based and have flash points in excess of 200° F (93º C). So the concerns of fire, explosion and vapors travelling to an ignition source in your shop are minimal. But realize some of the additives in latex paint will burn if a flame is put to them, especially when the paint is being sprayed as a mist. So don't throw caution completely to the wind.
Also associated with solvent-based paints are concerns of volatile organic components (VOC). These concerns are greatly reduced when using latex-based paints, but not eliminated. Latex paints still contain some VOCs. Usually the content is about 1/10 of the solvent-based paints. But it's still something to keep in mind when filling out those VOC compliance forms.
The fumes released by latex paints pose a small hazard. Additives such as ethylene glycol are common and glycols are mildly toxic by inhalation. So be sure to use a paint fume and mist filtering mask when spraying paint of any type.
Even if there was no health hazard associated with the paint, clean lungs are happy lungs and numerous acute (short-term) exposures result in chronic (long-term) exposures and no one knows what adverse health concerns may be discovered down the road. Just a case of better safe than sorry.
You can probably tell by the fact that I am beginning to talk philosophically and am using a lot of cliches that I am out of cold hard facts about the health hazards of latex paint. I can't even think up an analogy from a movie or TV show that would make sense in this article.
So I will leave well enough alone and reiterate that latex-based, water-reducible paints are a great deal safer from a health and fire aspect than the solvent-based products. But they do contain chemicals that are unnatural in the human body and should be used with respect.
Remember the public at large depends on you to perform "safe service." So when it comes to latex paint, don't forget: Wrap That Radiator!
The above article was written by David M. Brown, Chief Engineer of Johnson Manufacturing Company, Inc. and is published by JOHNSON with the expressed approval of the National Automotive Radiator Service Association and the Automotive Cooling Journal. Other reproduction or distribution of this information is forbidden without the written consent of JOHNSON and NARSA/ACJ. All rights reserved.
JOHNSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY
114 Lost Grove Road / PO Box 96 / Princeton, Iowa 52768-0096
Phone 563-289-5123 or Fax 563-289-3825