When I searched for paint chemical substances, I found a unique name, VOC. As Indonesian people, VOC reminds me to history of Indonesia nation. Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) was a Netherland Trade Agency in imperialism age, built in 1602. Indonesian people called VOC as Kompeni or Kumpeni, referred to compagnie.

VOC as chemical substances doesn’t refer to Kompeni, of course. It is the abbreviation of Volatile Organic Compound, which is emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. Studies have found that levels of several organics average 2 to 5 times higher indoors than outdoors. During and for several hours immediately after certain activities, such as paint stripping, levels may be 1,000 times background outdoor levels.

There’re so many sources of VOCs in our house. We always get close and make a contact with them. Some examples of sources of VOCs are:

• Building Materials
  • Carpets and adhesives
  • Composite wood products
  • Paints
  • Sealing caulks
  • Solvents
  • Upholstery fabrics
  • Varnishes
  • Vinyl Floors
• Home and Personal Care Products
  • Air fresheners
  • Air cleaners that produce ozone
  • Cleaning and disinfecting chemicals
  • Cosmetics
  • Fuel oil, gasoline
  • Moth balls
  • Vehicle exhaust running a car in an attached garage
• Behaviors
  • Cooking
  • Drycleaning
  • Hobbies
  • Newspapers
  • Non-electric space heaters
  • Photocopiers
  • Smoking
  • Stored paints and chemicals
  • Wood burning stoves

From list above, which one you have? All of them?! You’d never realize because VOCs evaporate easily in room temperature and low water soluble. While most people can smell high levels of some VOCs, other VOCs have no odor. Odor does not indicate the level of risk from inhalation of this group of chemicals. We can’t detected without using a professional device. There are thousands of different VOCs produced and used in our daily lives. Some common examples include:

• Acetone
• Benzene
• Ethylene glycol
• Formaldehyde
• Methylene chloride
• Perchloroethylene
• Toluene
• Xylene
• 1,3-butadiene

  
There is no clear and widely supported definition of a VOC. From a chemistry viewpoint “Volatile Organic Compound” can mean any organic compound (all chemical compounds containing carbon with exceptions) that is volatile (evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions). This is a very broad set of chemicals. Definitions vary depending on the particular context. There are many other widely used terms that are a subclass of VOCs. Laws or regulations are often responsible for creation of legal definitions of VOCs or definitions of subclasses of VOCs.

VOC is mixed to oil-based paints as a solvent. This solvent has a few important functions such as make a good film layer, quick dry, etc. Besides in paints, solvent also can be found in the other household products suc as wood preservatives; aerosol sprays; cleansers and disinfectants; moth repellents and air fresheners; stored fuels and automotive products; hobby supplies; dry-cleaned clothing.

The solubility is the maximal amount of compound that is soluble in a certain volume of solvent at a specified temperature. Common uses for organic solvents are in dry cleaning (e.g. tetrachloroethylene), as paint thinners (e.g. toluene, turpentine), as nail polish removers and glue solvents (acetone, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate), in spot removers (e.g. hexane, petrol ether), in detergents (citrus terpenes), in perfumes (ethanol), and in chemical synthesis. The use of inorganic solvents (other than water) is typically limited to research chemistry and some technological processes.

This VOC gives us a very bad effect. Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, emesis, epistaxis, fatigue, dizziness. These symptoms are alike other toxicity symptoms. So, if one of us experiences the symptoms, it could be a hard work to find out where it came from. Be very careful.

There’s a new way to replace the solvent by using polymerization. So, it doesn’t need a solvent anymore to produce the interior paints. In Indonesia, unfortunately, there’s no paint with zero VOC. The remain solution is choose the paint with low VOC. How do you determine whether it contains low VOC or not? Use this table below.

Name	Range
Minimal	0% ≤ VOC content ≤ 0.29%
Low	0.3% ≤ VOC content ≤ 7.99%
Medium	8% ≤ VOC content ≤ 24.99%
High	25% ≤ VOC content ≤ 50%
Very High	50% < VOC content

*This VOC Level table is provided according to five "bands", and manufacturers may label products with either a British Coatings Federation text box on the back panel, or a graphical globe symbol, the latter subject to licensing from B&Q plc. Both styles of labels contain the same text, and warn that VOCs contribute to atmospheric pollution.

 

(continue to Memilih Cat Interior Rumah Yang Sehat)