Experts call for brakes on green paint

“Many paint manufacturers have adopted products as environmentally friendly, green, and nano titles, and paint distributors have also used these as selling points to promote products with the concept of environmental protection. This environmental hype has become increasingly fierce and has caused consumer confusion.” At the Golden Autumn Academic Annual Meeting held in mid-November of the Painting Protection Association, Gao Xiufeng, executive director of the association and former professor of Xi'an Jiaotong University, stated the strange situation of the environmental protection coating market.

According to Gao Xiufeng, environmental protection coatings are coatings that can protect the environment. They are non-toxic, odorless, and can inhibit mold growth. It is undeniable that some paint companies have made great efforts to develop environmentally friendly paints, but now they have become more flavorful. They include "health paints," "pregnant women's paints," "children's paints," and "wedding paints." "Products" emerge one after another. "Environmental protection" has become a gold label for paint products to enter the market to attract customers. For example, the internal wall of green paint latex paint VOC (volatile organic compounds) content per liter limit does not exceed 200 grams, and now many products simply hit the banner of zero VOC, but no one actually tested; a paint store on the barrel of paint Although The content of chemical ingredients marked with various ingredients can still be marked with the words “green and natural”; even some companies have used artificial hands on the environmental protection certification to cover up the real situation. The inspection certificate does not include specific content such as VOC, but The contents of formaldehyde, benzene, etc. in the VOCs were listed separately, and the content was found to be in line with the standards, and the overall VOC content was not discussed.

There are many industry experts who share the same views with Gao Xiufeng. “Environmental protection and green should be the direction of development of the paint industry, but many companies are now stealing concepts, misusing or even hyping green products. In the past, the domestic market froze fluorocarbon coatings and frying polyurea coatings, and now they are frying water-based coatings. In order to attract eyeballs, paint distributors drank latex paint in public to show the health and environmental protection of the paint products. It was simply to mislead and fool consumers. “Chairman of China Coatings Industry Association, Chairman of Xi'an Coatings Protection Association, Xi’an Ma Yinnan, chairman of Leao Technology Co., Ltd., told reporters: “Now, the engineering construction unit blindly pursues low-price bids in the bidding process of coatings, resulting in chaotic, disorderly and vicious competition in the market. Can the quality of coating be guaranteed? We have many standards. They are afraid to vote. These unhealthy impetuosities are extremely detrimental to the healthy development of the paint industry."

In an interview with the reporter, senior engineer of the Shaanxi Provincial Research Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Minxi Xizhong, said that the concept of stealing environmental protection paints is relatively common. Now in the south, the so-called “green wood oil” has begun to be used to form a protective film on the surface of wood. “This is actually a varnish or paint for wooden furniture. In the past, it was called oil paint. It does not contain benzene itself. Now it is hype with a new type of environmentally friendly paint.”

Experts told the reporter: On the one hand, the environmental protection of some so-called “environmental protection products” that appear on the market is not as good as the propaganda; on the other hand, if we only emphasize environmental protection and green, at the current level, paint products and coatings The quality of the equipment will be difficult to guarantee. It is likely that adhesion, powder dropping, blistering, cracking, and low scrub resistance will occur. Taking latex paint as an example, additives such as coalescents and antifreeze agents are the main sources of VOC in paints, and their performance will be greatly reduced when they are used. Therefore, the choice of paint should be considered comprehensively.

"At present, the high-end coating technology is still monopolized by foreign countries, and China's paint industry has a long way to go to upgrade." Ma Junnan suggested that the government and industry associations should strengthen guidance, improve the paint industry threshold and technical standards, and regulate the orderly development of the industry. Paint production companies should work hard to improve their internal strength, develop new technologies, and work hard to reduce the energy consumption and pollutant emissions in the production process. At the same time, the country should change its traditional concept when formulating product standards. It not only covers the glossiness, hardness, and flexibility of coating products, but also sets relevant indicators for public health, environment, and safety, so that the product's environmental protection can be detailed. , authoritative data to speak.

Gao Xiufeng believes that the paint industry has entered the competition between brand value and cultural connotation. It is not a long-term plan to rely solely on conceptual hype to attract consumers. This kind of blindly prevailing hype has to stop.

“Low-pollution products are the development direction of coating products, and the coating industry is facing new environmental protection and energy saving challenges. In the domestic annual VOC emissions of 20 million tons, the paint industry accounts for more than 40%, and is a typical large emitter. During the period, in addition to controlling air pollutants such as carbon dioxide*, nitrogen oxides, and respirable particulates, China also has to gradually limit VOC emissions, and at the same time, the country has listed methacrylic titanium dioxide pigments as 'double high' products containing heavy metals (lead , chromium, cadmium, etc.) rust-proof pigment coatings are banned or restricted.” China National Coatings Industry Association consultant Liu Guojie disclosed at the academic annual meeting that bisphenol A-based epoxy resin is likely to be classified as "double "High" products; the international community is about to discuss the development of an international convention on environmental protection, including the terms of eliminating lead paint in 2018. If this international convention is passed, China will involve phasing out annual anti-corrosion paints with 50,000 to 60,000 tons of lead-chromium pigments and annual consumption of 100,000 tons. The overall situation is extremely severe. Therefore, paint companies should do a solid job in environmental protection, not just speculation.