What's wrong with conventional paints?

Who knew that picking up a paintbrush could have so many pitfalls? Apart from the nausea, dizziness and headaches which can arise if you don't open enough windows while you're merrily creating a feature wall or jazzing up an old cupboard, the long-term effects aren't great either. The constituents of conventional paints may include formaldehyde, heavy metals and nasties known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs for short. Those VOCs are given out while painting - and for up to five years after your brushes have dried.

The World Health Organisation says that professional decorators are 40% more likely to contract lung cancer, so it's no great leap to wonder whether paint in the home is detrimental to those living there (just ask the people who get allergic reactions). Not to mention the potentially harmful processes involved in the manufacture of paint ... This is, after all, the petrochemical industry, so not only does production involve the use of non-sustainable resources, it's said that producing one litre of paint can result in up to 30 litres of toxic waste.

What is an eco paint?

By 2010, paint manufacturers will be obliged to comply with stringent new EU limits on VOC levels. Some have complied already and are labelling their products as 'environmentally friendly' - but it ain't necessarily so. According to sustainablebuild.co.uk, many of the 'non-toxic' paints from conventional companies "still contain VOC solvents, chemical pigments and fungicides". Equally confusingly, the move towards low-VOC, water-based gloss paints is also controversial, as it means manufacturers have to add even more ingredients, using a more intensive production process, than before.

Even among the producers of 'eco' or 'natural' paint there's no cut and dried definition of what that description means. Some use synthetic, petrochemical-based ingredients, just in lower amounts; others are made with natural solvents, which still contain VOCs (though rather than emitting noxious gases they tend to smell of the citrus fruits from which they're often derived). Some contain animal products. And some contain titanium dioxide as a whitener, which is a big contributor to environmental problems. Clearly, there are degrees of 'eco', and the only way to decide is to read the label carefully and consider all the claims made by the manufacturers. Ethical Consumer concludes its buyers' guide to gloss paint with this useful 60-second green guide: 'Generally, plant-based, water-borne paints are the best buy, followed by plant-based, solvent-borne ones with natural solvents. Try to avoid those using titanium dioxide.'