Paint and Coating Removal

Paint and Coating Removal

Toxic chemicals such as methylene chloride and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) are widely used for the removal of paints and coatings. According to estimates from the U.S. EPA, there are 1.3 million consumers and 17,600 workers that annually use methylene chloride based paint stripping products, and 732,000 consumers and 30,300 workers that annually use NMP based paint stripping products in the United States.  

TURI has been working with the U.S. EPA, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, paint stripper product manufacturers, and furniture refinishers to identify and evaluate solvent blends with equal or better paint stripping performance, comparable ingredient costs, and a safer environmental, health and safety profile as compared to methylene chloride.

Video: Finding Safer Solvents

Researchers at UMass Lowell have recently identified and tested safer solvent blends that have paint stripping performance comparable to that of methylene chloride based paint strippers.

Consumers will soon have a safer alternative to dangerous paint strippers that have claimed dozens of lives around the country, thanks to a new formulation developed by Toxics Use Reduction Institute researchers and UMass Lowell students.

 The new product will be marketed under the Super Remover brand and they hope to have it available on store shelves within a few months. One of the manufacturing sites will be US Pack in Leominster, Mass.

Research Highlights

ToxServices, a toxicology risk assessment firm, used the GreenScreen chemical hazard assessment tool to evaluate the inherent toxicity of the solvents used in these new solvent blends including methyl acetate, dimethyl sulfoxide, and thiophene.  

A detailed assessment of the performance, safety, and cost for these new solvent blends is provided in the TURI report Assessment of Safer and Effective Alternatives to Methylene Chloride for Paint Stripping Products.