Ceiling Directive (NECD), it is now unlikely to want to bring in more rigorous
limits on VOCs.
The coatings industry has already
had to comply with two pieces of EU
legislation controlling VOC levels. One
sets VOCs limits in manufacturing
premises and the other restricts the content of volatile organic compounds in
decorative paints.
There have been concerns in the industry that the Commission might want
to bring in a third piece of VOCs legislation controlling total emissions of
volatile compounds (TVOC) and covering small amounts of pollutants and
their mixtures.
“The Commission now seems to believe that the coatings industry has already done enough to reduce emissions
so that it does not want to make additional requirements on the sector,” said
Didier Le Roy, technical director at the
European Council of Paint, Printing Ink
and Artists’ Colours Industry (Cepe).
Around 75 percent of all decorative
paints sold in Europe are now water-borne, while solvent-free coatings have
also been making inroads in sectors like
automobiles and industrial coatings.
“The modern decorative coatings in-
dustry (in Europe) has made huge strides
in the last 20 years to reduce emissions
through its Coatings Care program,”
explained Tom Bowtell, chief executive
of the British Coatings Federation. “We
have proved that a proactive, responsible
industry can achieve real steps forward
without regulation. For example, the
coatings industry now uses 50 percent
less solvents per tonne of production
compared to 1996, and we have reduced
VOC emissions from our manufacturing
facilities by a similar percentage in the
same period.”
However, industry representatives are
worried about the trend towards indi-
vidual national or regional governments
bringing in their own measures, which
may accelerate as the Commission eases
up on new emissions regulations.
France, Germany and Belgium have
already been introducing their own rules
on indoor air quality. Now there is a possibility that others will follow.
“Whilst understanding the concerns
about air pollution in major cities, we do
not believe that indoor air quality regula-
tions are necessary in the UK for the coat-
ings industry,” said Bowtell. “But if we do
end up with regulation, it should be on a
pan European basis.”
High levels of pollution in Europe’s
large cities has spurred politicians, NGOs
and other health and environmental
campaigners to put pressure on national
governments to do more to comply with
existing EU emissions regulations.
Many EU members states are failing to comply with EU emission targets set to be achieved by 2010. These
targets are now themselves well below
minimum safety levels recently set
by the United Nations’ World Health
Organisation (WHO).
After legal action by ClientEarth, a
campaigning group specializing in environmental law, the European Court of
Justice (ECJ), which ensures that all EU
law is applied in the same way among
its member states, ruled in November
that the UK government must comply
with 2010 limits on air pollution “as
soon as possible”.
Now the NGO wants to use its successful action against the UK as a platform for similar law suits against other
non-compliant EU governments.
“The ECJ’s ruling provides a clear
indication of what the law means by ‘as
soon as possible’,” said Alan Andrews, a
ClientEarth lawyer. “It has also clearly as-
serted the responsibility of national courts
to hold their governments to account. We
are seeking partners across Europe who
want to bring cases to protect their right
to breathe clear air.”
In response to public concerns about
poor air quality, particularly in cities, a
growing number of countries could in-
troduce tighter VOC limits, particularly
through IAQ measures.
In Germany the existing IAQ regulations, which mainly apply to floor coatings and other coverings, may be extended
to all coatings materials used indoors.
The French IAQ legislation requires
wall and floor coatings to be labelled
with details of the emission character-
istics of their volatile pollutants. The
labels have to comply with a ranking
system indicating the degree of hazard
of the contaminants.
In Belgium, an IAQ regulation due
to come into force at the beginning of
next year does not require labelling of
constructions products, including coatings. Instead, their producers or suppliers
must have drawn up emission dossiers on
them, giving details of TVOCs, carcinogenic substances and inclusion of chemicals like toluene and formaldehyde.
In Scandinavian countries such as
Finland and Denmark, the coatings sector
has agreed to a voluntary IAQ labelling
system, which so far has been working effectively enough for governments not to
bring in mandatory schemes.
“One of the concerns about what is
happening with indoor air quality at
the moment is a patchwork of different
regulations across European countries,
which for many of our members who
are supplying and labelling their products for many markets in Europe, is an
unnecessary and expensive burden,”
said Bowtell.
A greater decree of uniformity in the
application of IAQ measures may be
achieved when harmonised standards for
testing of VOCs from indoor construction materials, including coatings, is introduced through the Commission in the
next one to two years.
“EU member states may take advan-
tage of these standards to introduce their
own indoor VOC limits,” said Jorma
Sateri, chairman of the Finnish Society of
Indoor Air Quality and Climate (FiSIAQ)
and a member of the working group
which has been drawing up the stan-
dards. “They ought to benefit coatings
manufacturers because they will be able
to use the results of single tests to market
their products across Europe.”
However, although the test methods
are being harmonized, governments and
their advisors will continue to be able to
make their own assessments of the results
of the tests.
“It will require a lot more work at
the EU level before there is harmonised agreement on what level of concentrations of VOCs are acceptable,”
said Le Roy. CW
