Spray Paint Pollutant Limits Eased

Spray paints got a reprieve Thursday from stringent anti-smog limits as the California Air Resources Board rolled back standards that were supposed to go into effect in a year.

If the limits set in 1995 were enforced, most popular aerosol paint products would have to be taken off store shelves because no company has found a way to comply, air board officials said.

But the relaxation of the smog rules means an additional 5 tons of smog-forming emissions will be polluting California’s air each day--a significant setback in a state struggling to clean its air pound by pound.

In California, spray paints each day emit about 21 tons of volatile organic compounds--a major component of smog--about twice as much as the area’s oil refineries. In its report, the board acknowledged that the changes “will have an adverse environmental impact.”

From hair spray to paints, aerosol products have proved to be one of the most challenging sources of air pollution to clean up.

Manufacturers say they need petroleum-based solvents in aerosol paints because they work as propellants that create a fine, even mist.

The board originally set standards for Dec. 31, 1999, that were designed to cut emissions from spray paints by 60%, a target set by the state Legislature and designed to meet the Los Angeles Basin’s smog-fighting goals. The new standard lowers the reduction to 42% and moves the deadline back two years, to Jan. 1, 2002.

Mike Scheible, deputy executive officer of the air board, said the 60% target turned out to be overly ambitious.

Although water-based, low-solvent formulas are widely used in paints that are brushed on, they do not work well for aerosols.

“The basic problem is when you have an aerosol you need a lot of organic material in there to deliver the product,” Scheible said. “I think they [manufacturers] have tried, but I became convinced that it’s a whole different business than it is for paint in cans.”

To ensure consumers a wide range of product choices, state law prohibits the air board from setting standards that would ban any category of aerosols.

Paint manufacturers were relieved, although they unsuccessfully lobbied the board for a 2003 deadline.

“The board acted very responsibly today, although our industry truly believes the extra year is necessary,” said Heidi McAuliffe, a counsel with the National Paint and Coatings Assn., which represents nearly half of spray paint manufacturers.

McAuliffe said manufacturers worry whether they will be able to keep offering a wide array of products with different gloss levels, colors, coverages and other characteristics that consumers want.

For some small categories of aerosols--such as wood stains and shellac sealers--the board Thursday tightened standards because the industry’s reformulation worked better than expected. But for the most widely used products--including glossy coatings, primers and flat paints--the new limits are substantially weaker.

Paint manufacturers have reduced emissions 30% since 1989 by switching to acetone, which is less reactive than other solvents, and by increasing the volume of paint solids. But adding too much acetone or solid paint hampers the ability to spray evenly. Air board officials hope that companies can eventually develop low-polluting pumps or other containers to replace spray cans.

From all sources, largely vehicles and consumer products, the Southland’s air is polluted daily with about 1,000 tons of volatile organic compounds, which react in sunlight with nitrogen oxides to form lung-damaging ozone.

The air board will have to find ways to target other sources to make up the 5-tons-a-day shortfall created by the weaker paint standards.

The state agency also is developing a program in which manufacturers can average emissions from all consumer products based on a new end point--how reactive the solvents are in the air. The idea is to encourage the use of solvents that have a lower potential to form smog.