Ask the Expert Question-and-Answer Archive

by Ron Joseph

October, 2008

Certification

Q. I work for a lacquer and finishing company. We sell water bourne based products with very low levels of VOC emission. Is there such a thing as having our procuct EPA certified or marked as a green procuct. We have recieved conflicting information on this issue, and I thought you might know. Any information you could pass along would be helpful. Thank you.

A. You do not need the EPA to certify the VOC content of your paint. However, your company must self-certify that the VOC content is in compliance with the regulations. To do this, you must have the paint tested per EPA Method 24. If you have an in-house laboratory that can perform the tests, that will suffice. On the other hand, you can send it to an outside certified laboratory that can perform the tests for you. Regardless of whether your company laboratory or an outside lab performs the tests per Method 24, it is your company's responsibility to insure that the results are reliable. Similarly, your MSDS must contain the correct information regarding HAPs.

Regards,

Ron Joseph