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Can you briefly define for us the toxic substances found in paints currently on the New Zealand market? |
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Q: “Can you define for us the toxic substances found in paints currently on the New Zealand market”?
A: Paints in the market place have been found to contain volatile solvents such as the aromatic hydrocarbons, which have, like the similar benzene molecule from petroleum products, been linked to cancers. This is not ‘new’ news by the way, articles about this sort of thing appear from time to time, they’re interesting reading and worth taking time out to thoroughly digest the article and the information therein. I don’t think anyone has died from the smell of paint toxins in the short term but it seems to have been proven that at one time they could keep you feeling off colour for quite a number of years and perhaps be the catalyst for a later illness by those using paints on a regular basis. However, much has gone on in recent years with paint manufacturers reducing or eliminating certain volatile substances and related toxic components from their paints to such a degree that the paints to be found on the shelf these days are so much safer than ever before. In fact, Resene have sunk so much time and money into reducing toxins and they have achieved so much in regard to that these past ten years to now have their paints very safe even for people with allergies to use, so if you are an asthmatic (like one of our tradesmen is), then you may find you'll have no problem at all using Resene Paints. Q: You talk about toxic paints as 'perhaps' been generally prevalent in other manufacturer's paints with only Resene or PaintPlus reducing levels to safe usage but the "Environmental Choice Tick" now applies to Dulux as well, they have greatly reduced the toxicity of their paints these past years, why don't you mention them on your website?A: Sorry about that - yes you are right - Dulux now have the "Environmental Choice Tick". My apologies for not putting that on the website sooner than now! Dulux have very good paints, almost no smell and very good coverage and good in value! I don't mention Dulux anywhere on this site and that has been brought to my attention in several e-mails since this question was put here, I am quite happy to acknowledge the quality of Dulux along with Resene and PaintPlus. But you must understand that when I first put this site up over ten years ago, the toxins in paints was prevalent amongst all the paint manufacturers, Dulux included, I guess it was just the fact that Resene made the most noise about reducing toxins that put them in the "front line" so to speak!
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