The Harmful Effects of Painting: Substitutions of the Raw Materials - Research Paper Example

Painting is commonly meant for reasons such as to prevent rusting of metals and probably increasing the beauty of buildings and vehicles. Paints can be classified in two categories depending on the medium that they are mixed with; oil based and water based. Paints contain dissolved metals such as lead and sulfur elements that can be hazardous to human beings and to the environment in general. Other chemical harmful materials that are present in paints and stains and finishes are petroleum distillates, mineral spirits and formaldehyde.

However, the harmful effects of painting can be controlled by evaluating the manufacturing process and control its disposal into the environment. Substitutions of these raw materials with organics one such as acrylic copolymer latex, linseed oil, safflower oil, titanium dioxide, water, and glycol has proven effective in reducing pollution due to paints. CSIRO studies have shown that indoor pollution has reduced by 35% thus recommending more green paints (Emsley, 2007).Water is a crucial commodity for survival and carrying out companies' production activities.

The principle of water treatment is to allow industrial and human waste to be deposed off without any hazard to human health and to the natural environment. The best water treatment activity is the one that will produce an effluent that will not alter the microbial and chemical composition of the environment. Convectional wastewater treatment is one of the best ways to treat water as it not only reduces water in the water, but also allows recycling of the wastewater. The waste water from the chemical industry can be used in the industry to clean, to cool machineries and other industrial purposes that do not require very clean water.

According to research, water recycling within many companies has proven to cut short expenditure on water by 40% thus proving it as an important process to carry out. However, conventional water treatment is expensive to install, requires a large space and many chemicals for treatment of water to ensure it is harmless. (Jabbra and John, 2005).Work CitedEmsley, J. (2007). Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Materials in Everyday life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Jabbra, J. G.

, & John, N. W. (2005). Challenging Environmental issues: Middle Eastern Perspectives. Leiden: Brill.