We often get asked about the environmental credentials of our PVC based industrial flooring so we recently published a detailed blog all about what Ecotile floor tiles are made from. However with paint being such a widely used industrial floor covering we decided to produce this infographic so you can see just what the alternatives are like. We hope you find it useful.

Full Text version:

Industrial Floor Paint vs Industrial Sustainability; how do they mix?

1. Floor paint is the most common industrial floor covering is the UK
2. There are around 800,000,000 square feet of industrial floor space in the UK – This is equivalent to an area the size of Oxford and Cambridge combined (potentially covered in industrial floor paint!)
3. Over 12 billion litres of paint are made and sold each year – That’s enough to fill the River Thames with paint all the way from Windsor Castle to Tower Bridge in London
4. £35 billion is spent annually on paint
5. China is the largest paint producer in the world
a. It is also the largest paint consumer
6. What can be found in your tin of floor paint?
a. VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
b. Titanium Dioxide
c. Biocides
7. What health conditions have been linked to VOCs?
a. Asthma
b. Lung and breathing conditions
c. Liver damage
d. Kidney damage
e. Eye irritation
f. Skin conditions
g. Headaches
h. Nausea
i. Muscle weakness
8. Do VOCs have any impact on the environment?
a. VOCs, Ozone & Smog – One of the concerns about VOCs is how they can contribute to Smog. When VOCs, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide react in sunlight this causes Ozone, a constituent of smog.
b. 1.3 Million – The number of deaths last year linked to air pollution according to the World Health Organisation
c. Where are the smoggiest places on earth?
i. Iran
ii. Mongolia
iii. India
iv. Pakisthan
v. Botswana
vi. Saudi Arabia
vii. China
9. Does Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) have an impact on the environment?
a. During the TiO2 manufacture of process emissions are produced including (depending on process): CO2, N2O, SO2, NOx CH4 and VOCs
b. Waste streams can include spent acid and metal sulfates
c. Co2 levels threaten to have an irreversible effect on our marine ecosystem unless reversed
10. What are Biocides?
a. Biocides – as their name would appear to suggest – are by their nature toxic, and their use strictly controlled in the European Union. We do not know how they are regulated in other parts of the world. Many paint producers claim that these ingredients are commercially sensitive and do not openly inform us about their use.

Sources:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/03/oceans-massive-irreversible-impacts-carbon-cuts-global-warming
http://www.care2.com/causes/top-10-smoggiest-countries-in-the-world.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1327910/Paint-fumes-trigger-asthma-cancer-Hidden-dangers-decorating.html
http://www.greenspec.co.uk/building-design/paint/
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol93/mono93.pdf
http://conservationbytes.com/2010/05/05/environmental-reprobates/
http://www.coatingsworld.com/heaps/view/965
http://www.newmanwebb.co.uk/