Using Non-Toxic Paints in Home Decor

When you design your home decor, the most important thing is that it be a healthful home. This means no toxic emissions.  How do we create a home with no toxic emissions? It’s all about the materials we use. The largest surfaces areas of our homes are the walls and floors, so let’s start there.  Add the surface areas of our furniture, and you have an enormous exposure zone to toxins. This is because walls, floors, and furniture are usually painted or stained with substances that are quite toxic. There are however, safe alternatives. If paint is eco friendly, it is most often non-toxic, so look for green product certification such as Green Seal Standard (GS-11).

You know that outdoor air is polluted, but did you know that indoor air is three times more polluted than outdoor air? The EPA deemed indoor household air to be one of the top 5 hazards to human health. Conventional finishes and paints are among the leading causes, because they release low level toxic emissions into the air continuously, for years after their application.  Beware of any product containing ethylene glycol, formaldehyde, heavy metals, or methylene chloride.

A variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were essential to the performance of paint, until recently. Now the technology has improved, and non-toxic alternatives are available.