Synopsis

Air pollution is one of the world’s largest environmental health risks. Moreover, the level of hazardous air pollutants can be five times higher in indoor air than outdoor air. Much of the pollution found indoors comes from VOCs emitted from carpets, furniture, electronics, household cleaners and other synthetic materials.
Chronic exposure to these invisible toxins, such as formaldehyde, can create long-term health problems. Due to a multitude of formaldehyde sources commonly found within indoor environments, it is a significant challenge to address the emission of each source individually. Therefore, an attractive solution to reducing indoor formaldehyde levels is through a chemical remediation or scavenging system. One of the emerging trends for the effective removal of indoor air contaminants is the use of functional coatings. We demonstrate how the unique functionality of amino alcohols can help improve indoor air quality by providing high-efficiency formaldehyde scavenging performance when used in waterborne architectural paints. Amino alcohol additives are highly effective at low dosages and do not require major reformulation work, enabling the creation of functional coatings to improve indoor air quality.