![]() ![]() Despite these observations, there has been barely any research on the odor of paints, and little is known about the causative odor active compounds. Besides the influence on human health, acrylic paints have been reported to emit an unpleasant and long lasting odor ( 4, 5). ![]() However, many manufacturers keep on using mineral spirits, as it is an easy and cheap way to attain the desired properties. Therefore, these substances bare the risk of causing adverse effects on human health after acute or chronical exposure without being recognized by the customer. It is important to mention that some of these substances show none or only a low odor activity. The latter substances have been reported to be harmful, as hepatic damage and neurotoxic effects have been observed for these volatiles in the past ( 3). The volatile fraction of water-based paints is composed of alcohols, esters or mineral spirits, i.e., a mixture of various long- and branched-chain alkanes (C 8–C 14) and volatile aromatic compounds. Likewise, VOCs from acrylic paints were proposed as a cause for occupational asthma ( 2). Previous studies demonstrated that the emitted VOCs caused stronger asthmatic symptoms in affected persons when being asked to apply acrylic paint on a board for a period of 60 min ( 1). Whereas, hobby painters sometimes show allergic-like symptoms, feel dizzy or suffer, at times, from headache after long painting sessions, professional painters showed different types of long-term effects depending on the duration and extent of their exposure. Painters, artists, and other workers that are exposed to emissions that are released from paints have been, however, reported to suffer from physical harm caused by the emitted VOCs. Their fast drying process, the easy handling and their high covering capacity make them suitable not only as artist paints, but also for the application as in- and out-door construction paint, varnishes and other coatings. As most of these substances are also known to be harmful, a reduction or replacement of these substances by less toxic and non-odor active ingredients is likely to turn out to be advisable in order to reduce the odor and potential negative physiological effects of paints. Thereby, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (naphthalene, indane, and tetralin derivatives) contributed to the plastic- and mothball-like odor whereas acrylic monomers (butyl acrylate) were found to be responsible for a mushroom-like and geranium leaf-like odor. The identified odorous substances were primarily benzene derivatives (styrene, ethylbenzene, allylbenzene, propylbenzene) with a plastic-like, aromatic and solvent-like odor. Additionally all samples were sensorially characterized by a trained sensory panel. Therefore, the samples were extracted with dichloromethane and purified via solvent assisted flavor evaporation prior to analysis of the distillates by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O), and GC-GC-MS/O. In this study six acrylic paints for artists were analyzed regarding their odor-active constituents. Due to their emitted volatile organic compounds, these paints are associated with different work-related diseases and are known to emit an unpleasant odor. ![]() Acrylic paints are fast drying water based paints that are easy to handle and have a high covering capacity and therefore possess many characteristics that make them applicable in a wide range of applications, such as varnishes or artists paints. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |