The paint industry significantly contributes to soil, water, and air pollution. Since it contains a variety of substances, such as heavy metals, solvents, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the environment and human health may be negatively impacted by these pollutants. Paint can include dangerous compounds that can lead to cancer, skin irritation, respiratory issues, and environmental damage.
To compare different wall painting types utilized in the Ibny Baitak Project, a new city development in Egypt, using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The environmental impact of 12 different painting types is determined by the raw materials utilized, production, and transportation. The cut-off of the paint application and end-of-life disposal steps are applied. This article compared several wall paint types, including water-based, solvent-based, and low-VOC paints.
By the single score results, the alkyd paint type recorded the highest impact by (1.57 pt), the ceramic-based paint came in the second rank by (1.19 pt), then the acrylic paint by (0.27 pt), finally the Gypsum Plasterboard by (0.25 pt). However, by the weighting result, the Alkyd paint type has recorded the highest of the three environmental impacts by 4.75 〖kg co〗_2 eq, 65.61 Mj primary, and 3.30E-06 DALY, respectively. In contrast, the Gypsum Plasterboard recorded the lowest numbers by 0.45 〖kg co〗_2 eq, 5.19 Mj primary, and 1.13E-06 DALY, respectively. The article's findings show that solvent-based paints have the most significant environmental impact, whereas water-based and low-VOC paints (such as acrylic paint) have the lowest.