Nontoxic and Zero VOC Paints for the Nursery

When my husband and I moved into our first new house, the first thing I wanted to do was to paint, every room. With a primary blue master bedroom, neon green kitchen and bright yellow bathroom, it was critical. Instead of eating stuffing and drinking wine, we celebrated Thanksgiving by painting five rooms in our house.

We tried to consider the environment and our health when we painted six out of seven rooms in our house that long weekend. I looked at paints in Lowe’s and Home Depot and chose a low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) primer and the only zero VOC paint available at that time, an Olympic product. The EPA says VOCs may have short- and long-term adverse health effects.

The paint did a fine job, covered well and the fumes did seem minimal. But when it came to painting the last room in the house, the room I hope to be a nursery in the near future, I decided to be more discriminating when choosing the paint. I’ve heard babies tend to put everything in their mouth and have witnessed my own nephew lick the floor at my sister’s house, so I wanted the walls to be safe and lick-able.

Some of the ingredients in conventional interior paint are ethylene glycol, a contributor to headaches and respiratory problems, and titanium dioxide, a possible skin irritant. You can find health and safety information about household products including paint from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Carcinogens and VOC’s vapors by traditional paints have been linked to a variety of health effects including eye, nose and throat irritation and irritation in the upper and lower respiratory tracts, nausea, headaches, and dizziness.

Beyond zero VOC, I wanted zero toxins. I returned to the big box stores to see if anything had changed in the last six months. The only contender I saw was a new paint at Home Depot, The Freshaire Choice, that claims there are zero VOCs in the paint and most importantly in the colorant, which according to the company other zero VOC paints add VOCs back in when color is added. Many major paint companies are promoting “fresh air” products on their labels, but often the VOC label doesn’t take into account some VOCs that do not cause smog, but are still bad for your health.

My first attempt at making healthy paint choices only took into account VOCs. Low and zero VOC paints are a better choice than conventional interior paints because they have low odor, but they still can contain harmful chemicals. Nontoxic paint is more expensive. I spent about $50 for a gallon. But it’s worth the extra expense when it comes to the health of your family.

A few paint options:

• I liked the idea of Real Milk Paints, but with only 28 pigments to choose from and learning that you are left seeing brush or roller application streaks, it didn’t fit my needs.
• Mythic Paint offers all of the products you might need in home redecorating or starting from scratch: primer, drywall primer, ceiling paint, flat to high gloss paint ranges, and exterior paint. Mythic offers over 1200 colors of their nontoxic and zero-carcinogenic paint, so finding a color you like is no problem. There are dealers across the country, but Mythic also offers free shipping.
• I ended up going with Earthpaint because it was nontoxic and it is a local product for me, which makes it even more environmentally friendly. I loved that I could pick up paint samples from any store and the dealer could match the any color I liked. I ended up going with an Earthpaint color, stem green. I did need two coats of paint, but that’s okay because as I was told at the store, the paint is self-priming, so I saved some time and money there.