PAINTS FAVORABLE TO INDOOR AIR-QUALITY - PROPOSED SELECTION CRITERIA AND EVALUATION

In order to be able to recommend suitable paints for indoor use, relev ant properties and selection criteria must be established and evaluate d. An overall description of a paint intended for the interior surface s of a building (walls and ceilings) based an relevant properties is s uggested and given in the form of a test programme. The factors consid ered are: indoor air quality and working environment paint application characteristics coating performance. The evaluation profile of a pain t, which includes properties for each factor, makes it easy to compare with established selection criteria of a reference profile. Experimen ts confirm the applicability of the test programme and of the selectio n criteria used to evaluate different paints for indoor use. The overa ll description principle is found to be essential in guiding consultan ts, builders, owners, end-users and authorities in specifying a paint.