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3 health and safety concerns of traditional anti-corrosion coatings

The coatings and paints that protect against the ever-present threat of corrosion are essential to industries that use steel. Unfortunately, many of these traditional coatings and paints carry health and safety risks for the industrial workers who come in contact with them.

The health hazards for employees who work with paints and coatings have long been a source of concern for the industry. A 2013 study showed a connection between exposure to paint products and higher instances of headaches, low quality of sleep, memory issues, and muscle weakness. Workers commonly are exposed to volatile and hazardous chemicals through traditional anti-corrosion coatings during the process of surface preparation, application, or removal.

Let’s examine the three most common health and safety concerns of traditional coatings, along with the efforts made in the paint and coatings industry to identify and assuage these concerns. Paint and coatings manufacturers—as well as the industries that use these coatings—must look to novel strategies for improving safety and reducing hazards, in order to protect not only their bottom lines, but the health and productivity of their essential workforce.

1. Volatile Organic Compounds and Hazardous Air Pollutants

Also known as VOCs, volatile organic compounds are found in vehicle emissions, man-made consumer products, and notably, anti-corrosion coatings and paints. Their high vapor pressure allows molecules to evaporate into the surrounding air, causing humans in close proximity to breathe them in as vapors or gases.

Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)—which are suspected to cause cancer and other serious health problems—are released into the atmosphere at the rate of millions of pounds per year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory. Compounds including benzene, chlorobenzene, ethylbenzene, acetone, chloroethane, styrene, vinyl chloride, toluene, and xylene are among the common HAPs found in traditional paints and coatings.

Workers are at risk of inhaling these dangerous emissions when a coating requires surface preparation or additional applications. Inhaling VOCs and HAPs can cause health problems such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and eye or skin irritation.

Prolonged exposure also can increase the risk of developing asthma or allergic reactions and could be responsible for more serious and chronic conditions, such as kidney damage and cancer.

Emissions increase when workers need to use solvent strippers, sprays, or pollution-control filters. Any time a coating or paint requires the use of a curing oven, intermediate sanding, or a top-coat, VOC emissions and other wastes increase even more.

2. Flame Resistance

Many traditional anti-corrosion paints use organic compounds that serve as fuel to a fire in the workplace. These compounds are far more likely to ignite or melt than inorganic compounds, contributing to the growth of a fire, so they cannot offer flame-spread protection on their own. Traditionally, the solution for companies with carbon steel assets has been to apply a secondary coating that offers flame spread protection. This not only adds cost, but also increases the risks of workers being exposed to potentially hazardous chemicals such as VOCs and HAPs.

One option to prevent flame spread without using any additional flame retardant is to use a fully inorganic anti-corrosion coating.

3. Microbes, Bacteria, and Other Germs

The danger of microbes lurks on surfaces and substrates, particularly where moisture is present. Consider, for instance, the environments of an offshore oil rig, livestock feeding areas, railroad cars, or freighters and cargo ships. These largely steel structures are breeding grounds for bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi, which can cause everything from allergic reactions to serious health problems for those who work in proximity to them.

While traditional coatings might protect against rust and corrosion for a limited duration, few can tout their ability to extinguish dangerous microbes from the environment they serve.

The Response: Moving Towards Safer Coatings

The EPA has developed numerous restrictions and regulations regarding VOCs. Some compounds—including bisphenol A (BPA), N-methyl pyrrolidone solvent, isothiazolinone preservatives, titanium dioxide, and nonyl phenol-based surfactants—have been restricted by law, while others are heavily scrutinized. Stricter emissions control has contributed to a decrease of airborne VOCs in some of the nation’s most polluted geographic areas.

As a result of regulations, more organizations in the industrial and manufacturing sectors have sought safer coatings to protect the health of employees working in these facilities and enhance productivity. Already, corrosion mitigation methods are adapting to this need, including but not limited to the protection of high-strength industrial steel, fasteners, petroleum pipelines, offshore oil rigs and deep wells, airplanes, and cars. Using a nontraditional coating that requires only a single application eliminates redundancies and mitigates exposure to VOCs and HAPs, further contributing to the reduction of VOC emissions. Coatings that lack HAPs or VOCs altogether, of course, are optimal.

Whether companies are compelled by compliance with the law, the high costs of reapplying traditional coatings, or the health and wellbeing of their employees, the result is the same: that can provide superior protection against corrosion while maintaining environmental and human health will become the new standard.

What are your biggest concerns regarding traditional anti-corrosion coatings and paints? Let us know in the comments section.

About the Author

Merrick Alpert

President

551 Pylon Drive, Suite D

Raleigh, NC 27606

(754)-222-4919