Health&Safety
At Valkyrie Floor Coatings we want to change the current status quo of the industry. Because we value the health and safety of our clients, we have made it our mission to help provide the safest and cleanest home and work environments possible. Which is why products we use are flame resistant and completely VOC and Solvents free.
It is widely advertised that smoking is harmful to our health. Smoke produced by 1 cigarette contains 15% of a mix of 21 different VOCs out of general smoke volume, when standard traditional coatings that you can find in most Australian homes contains 70 VOC g/l, which is significantly more than tobacco smoke.
What is VOC?
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) are a group of carbon-based chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperature.
EPA has found concentrations of VOCs in indoor air to be 2 to 5 times greater than in outdoor air and sometimes far greater. During certain activities indoor levels of VOCs may reach 1,000 times that of the outside air. New buildings especially, contribute to the highest level of VOC off-gassing in an indoor environment because of the abundant new materials generating VOC particles at the same time in such a short time period. In addition to new buildings, many consumer products emit VOCs, therefore the total concentration of VOC levels is much greater within the indoor environment.
Respiratory, allergic, or immune effects in infants or children are associated with VOCs and other indoor or outdoor air pollutants.
Health effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination, nausea, damage to the liver, kidney and central nervous system. VOCs can cause cancer in animals and humans. Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, vomiting, nose bleeding, fatigue, dizziness.
Eye and respiratory tract irritation, headaches, dizziness, visual disorders, and memory impairment are among the immediate symptoms that some people have experienced soon after exposure to some VOCs.
What are Solvents?
Organic solvents are carbon-based substances capable of dissolving or dispersing one or more other substances.
Organic solvents can be carcinogens, reproductive hazards, and neurotoxins.
Organic solvents are used in many industries. They are used in paints, varnishes, lacquers, adhesives, glues, and in degreasing and cleaning agents, and in the production of dyes, polymers, plastics, textiles, printing inks, agricultural products, and pharmaceuticals. Millions of Australian workers are exposed to organic solvents. The level of exposure depends upon the dose, duration and work being done.
Most organic solvents are flammable or highly flammable, depending on their volatility. Mixtures of solvent vapors and air can explode. Solvent vapors are heavier than air, they will sink to the bottom and can travel large distances nearly undiluted.
General health hazards associated with solvent exposure include toxicity to the nervous system, reproductive damage, liver and kidney damage, respiratory impairment, cancer, and dermatitis. Many solvents can lead to a sudden loss of consciousness if inhaled in large amounts.
