Epoxy Flooring with ZERO VOC

Epoxy coatings are not inert. In fact, most epoxies require mixing two components, each of which actually may be high in VOCs. The two part react with one another, they catalyze into a polymer, and most or all of the VOCs are consumed. Often, the resulting coating is much lower in VOC than either component, or even zero. Epoxy product data usually lists three VOC level, one for Part A, another for Part B, and one for “A+B”. The last one is usually the lowest and the one on which SCAQMD bases its VOC limit.

A product’s Safety Data Sheet is a good place to start when determining whether the product is an “inherently nonemitting source.” If the ingredients list includes organic-based binders, polymers, resins, or additives, the product is NOT inherently nonemitting. However, if the ingredients list includes only metal- or mineral-based materials (such as Portland cement, plaster of Paris, gypsum, limestone, talc, mica, perlite, silica, or clay), there is a good chance that the product may be inherently nonemitting. Just keep in mind that MSDS may not list ALL ingredients. Trace components are sometimes not listed, and manufactures can be cagy about reporting “trade secrets.”

Jon is correct that epoxies emit VOCs when they are mixed and the standard practice is to add all the parts together to get a total VOC for the product. However, poured epoxy floors report under IEQc4.2 as a coating and not a flooring system. There are some old conversations in this forum and in the IEQc4.2 forum that would explain the reasons so I won't rehash it now.

SCAQMD, CARB, and the EU VOC Standards all outline methods of measuring VOC content of multi-component products like epoxies AFTER the parts have catalyzed. For the discussion on the NC-2009 IEQc4.2 page, see http://www.leeduser.com/comment/redirect/52270. Note that it is not simply a matter of adding A+B. In this case, the sum is often less than the parts.