Healthy Painting Guidelines
Try to schedule painting for dry periods in the fall or spring, when windows are more easily open for ventilation. Keep windows wide-open, as weather permits, for about two days after painting to avoid unwanted exposure to paint vapors (and to return to acceptable indoor air quality). Use window-mounted box fans to exhaust vapors from the work area. Make sure they cannot fall out of the window. If fans cannot be used, make sure that rooms being painted have adequate cross-ventilation.
Provide advance notice to neighbors in adjacent units that painting is to begin. Take frequent fresh air breaks while painting. Avoid freshly painted rooms for to days, whenever possible. Keep young children and individuals with breathing problems from freshly painted rooms. Leave painted areas if you experience eye watering, headaches, dizziness, or breathing problems.
How Can I Get More Information?
To obtain further help in ensuring a safe, healthy indoor air environment, contact:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Indoor Air Quality Information Clearinghouse - or on-line at http://www.epa.gov/iaqxline.html U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Washington, D.C. Consumers can get recall and other safety information on-line at www.cpsc.gov or report product hazards to info@cpsc.gov. What Are the Special Issues for Apartment Dwellers? Vapors from paints are a special issue in apartment buildings because the vapor moves as “shared air” between units. Painters should be aware that harmful gases can move through common walls through gaps around pipes and electrical outlets. Apartment managers should consider giving advance notice to neighbors that a unit is to be painted. They should consider inspecting painted units to ensure that ventilation is maintained during painting and, as a rule of thumb, for at least to days afterwards, and they should consider loaning box fans to residents who are painting their apartments. Problems may be reduced if all apartments being painted, as well as neighboring apartments, are vented to the outdoors with box fans. United States Environmental Protection Agency
Healthy Indoor Painting Practices
A SAFETY GUIDE FOR Residents Property Managers Painters
How Do I Select Paint? First, make sure you select paints that are for indoor use. Do not use exterior paints indoors. There are two categories of interior paints, water-based and oil-based. Water-based paints are referred to as “latex” paints. The oil-based paints are referred to as “alkyd” paints. In general, water-based paints will emit fewer chemicals and lower levels of chemical vapors. Short-term exposure to solvents from alkyd paints can be significantly higher than from latex paints. When selecting paint or contract- ing for painting services, read the label for information about the potential health effects of the paints or ask the contractor or paint supplier.
Are There Specific Safety Precautions?
Paints contain different chemicals and the potential hazards are different for various products. Each product has specific safety precautions given on the label. However, there are some basic safety steps to keep in mind when using any paint.
Always read and follow all the instructions and safety precautions on the label.
Do not assume you already know how to use the product. The hazards may be different from one product to another. Some ingredients in individual products may also change over time. The label tells you what actions you should take to reduce hazards and the first aid measures to use if there is a problem.
There must be plenty of fresh air where you paint. Open all doors and windows to the outside (not to hallways). Curtains and blinds should be pushed back so that there is nothing blocking the airflow, people’s susceptibility to paint chemicals varies widely. Additionally, the types and amounts of chemical emitted from paint vary widely, especially between oil-based and latex paints.
