Paint and Coating Removal

Most Paint Stripping Products Contain Toxics

Most paint stripping products on the market contain toxic chemicals such as methylene chloride and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP).

High, short-term exposures to methylene chloride can be lethal. Its extreme volatility makes it especially dangerous, since it is very easy to create unsafe airborne concentrations through evaporation. Learn more about methylene chloride.

TURI and UML Researchers Find Safer Alternative that Works in the Same Timeframe

TURI worked with the U.S. EPA, UMass Lowell researchers, paint stripper product manufacturers, bathtub refinishers and furniture refinishers to identify and test safer solvent blends that have general paint stripping performance comparable to that of methylene chloride based paint strippers.

Consumers in the U.S. and Canada now have a safer alternative to dangerous paint strippers that have claimed dozens of lives around the country.

The new product is marketed under the Super Remover New Generation brand. One of the manufacturing sites will be US Pack in Leominster, Mass.

Video: Finding Safer Solvents

Assessment of Performance, Safety and Cost of Safer Solution

To evaluate the inherent toxicity of the solvents used in the new solvent blends –methyl acetate, dimethyl sulfoxide, and 1,3 dioxolane – TURI worked with ToxServices, a toxicology risk assessment firm. ToxServices used the GreenScreen chemical hazard assessment tool to assess the performance, safety, and cost for these new solvent blends. Read the results in the TURI report Assessment of Safer and Effective Alternatives to Methylene Chloride for Paint Stripping Products.