The pollution made by decoration-aroused leaders’ recognition. On July 6th, 2001, experts from chemical industry, light industry and architectural materials began to enact 10 compelling standards about limiting toxic materials from decoration material, which was enforced from Jan. 1st, 2002. The corporations should produce and sell products according to the standards and stopped producing ineligible products from July 1st, 2002.

Two coatings are among the 10 standards, seeing appendix. In order to help corporation enforce well, Technical Committee of Paint and Pigment for standardization and China National Quality Supervision Center for Paint hold a class in Wuxi on Mar. 2nd, 2002. Journalists from National Paint & Coatings Industry Information Center interviewed some representatives from coatings corporations.

How Corporations Think about New Standards

Before enacting the new standards, some products have exceeded them actually, but there were also badly ineligible products. Although some corporations named their products as environmental protective products, there were no suitable measurements. The enforcement of new standards definitely standardizes the market and improve air pollution cause by decorate materials.

To Face the New Standards Calmly and Raise New Programs According to Chances

The main intention of enacting new standards is to improve air pollution. To reach the new standards, former process should be denied, especially the content of free TDI in solvent wood lacquer. Engineer Wu Fuyu from Anhui Tianlang Paint Corporation Automotive Decorate Material Factory said, “Environmental pollution will harm the economical development, so we should enforce. If not, our corporation will quit from international stage.” Tianlang didn’t produce furniture lacquer or architectural coatings before, but they would produce it directly without adjusting, avoiding unnecessary waste.

New Standards Standardize the market

The president of Shenzhen Zhanchenda Chemicals Co., Ltd. Paint & Coatings Research Institute considered the new standards as evangel to big corporations. His opinion is that any corporations had old equipment, laggard and low-quality products. However, due to their low price, many high-quality products sold difficultly. After enforcing new standards, the big corporations could make use of their advantage in technique and capital to introduce foreign process equipment or R & D themselves. The new standards still have distances to foreign products; for example, the content of free TDI in new standard is 0.7% while abroad is 0.5. However, as long as the market demand exists, we’ll shorten the distances quickly.

Pressing on with technical alteration

The new standards are enacted according to the present actual situation of relevant coatings corporations in our country, so it is not difficult to reach the guideline. The augmentation of cost is the sole problem. Being asked about where the augmented cost will be added, Chief Engineer Shan Yunkang of () considered it as a problem of concept. If people aggrandize the environmental protective consciousness, it is not a big problem to either corporations or customers. Although the benefit in a short time would fall, it will raise after some time because eliminating low-price competition. Since the present equipment that produces curative agents for furniture lacquer cannot accord with new standards, resin production should be separated from paints production. Then curative agents will be produced in special corporations, and the large scale could make low cost and also low price, which would reduce the cost of producing paints. Therefore, it would be better than the present production.

As for the high content of formaldehyde in internal coatings, Minister of Shunde Maydos Chemical Group Co. Ltd. Quality Ministry said that because coatings 106 and 107 still have market. The enforcement of new standards will put an end to these ineligible products, so that this problem could be settled.

Appendix: Limiting Guideline of toxic materials in Coatings
1. Limitation of toxic materials in solvent wood lacquer GB18581-2001