Advancements in Green Paints for Cars

These days everyone is feeling the pressure to try and live in as much harmony with the planet as possible. This green thinking leads scientists to develop products of all kinds that are as environmentally responsible as possible. The auto industry has been one of the most environmentally destructive forces of the last century, so it is scrambling now to try and go green wherever possible. One of the ways it is doing this is with the development of green paint for cars.

Ford was the company that led the charge for automakers to begin using green paint. They implemented the first green paint used in the automobile manufacturing process back in 2007. Their green paint reduced the CO2 output during production by 15 percent and lowered the percentage of environmentally destructive volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 10 percent.

This was only the first in a series of green paints to be developed for used by the auto industry. Over the last five years every major auto manufacturer and car paint maker has been working to develop new paints and methods of auto paint methods to make the process of painting a car as eco-friendly as possible. The levels of carbon emissions used to make paint have continued to shrink. The amount of VOCs released into the environment from automobile painting is going down all the time as well.

The newest advance in green car paints is the development of water-based car paints. These water-based paints are very exciting news for the health of the planet. The water-based nature of the paint means that during the paining process little to no VOCs will be released into the atmosphere during the painting process. In fact many of the newest versions of the water-based green paints have 96% fewer VOCs than traditional oil-based auto paints.

A major component of the car painting process has changed to be greener as well. The primer for most automotive painting has traditionally contained a chemical called hexavalent chromium. Chromium is a heavy metal that leeches into the environment causing all kinds of neurological and development problems, especially in children. It is very rare that anyone is still using a primer with hexavalent chromium in it.

Hopefully all of these advancements in green paint for cars are just the start. The more the auto industry can improve its environmental record, the better the chances are for the recovery of the planet’s health.