The new 2010 VOC regulation

What is this regulation for?

One of the biggest environmental issues facing the paint industry today is that of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions and the effect that the solvents contained in paints have on the air we breathe and the environment we live in.

There are two very distinct aspects to this new legislation:

AIR QUALITY and Total Volatile Organic compound (TVOC) levels

In the regulations VOCs are 'solvents' that have a boiling point below 250°C at standard atmospheric pressure. They are a problem because they can accelerate the rate at which nitrogen oxides react with UV from the sun which in turn can contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Less than 3% of all man-made VOCs in Europe (and less than 1% in the UK) come from decorative paint however in line with ongoing European and global reductions in carbon emissions Tikkurila along with most other global paint manufacturers have implemented EU industry standards for VOC emissions.

Official UK legislation, based on EU directive 2004/42/EC is in place and covers coatings applied to buildings, their trim and fittings and associated structures when applied for decorative, functional and protective purposes. This directive is a two stage process; the first stage, for which TIkkurila is fully compliant, started in January 2007 and the second stage starts in 2010, when even stricter limits will be applied, which will make all but the most specialist of solvent based products viable.

Reducing TVOC contents in the final product is important but VALTTI and our manufacturer and supplier Tikkurila know that reducing VOC content is not the full story unless you take measures to reduce the impact of the whole process of paint manufacture from sourcing of raw materials to renewable energy supplies in our manufacturing plant. See our environmental accreditations in the M1 Classification section.

Air quality is also a major issue when considering the environmental impact of our products we produce.It is possible to have a low VOC product which contains harmful chemicals so Tikkurila employ independent testing facilities to ensure that all products with the M1 classification are free from chemicals which are detrimental to health.