Coatings Update:Pollution and the paint industry

There is no question but that the paint industry is responding to the pollution problems associated with its activities. That pollution can reach a state of hysteria, however, is indicated by the fact that the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Health and Welfare held a public hearing on a bill introduced by a councilman to outlaw epoxy paints in Philadelphia. This is not quite on a level with the story, probably apocryphal, that the Indiana legislature many years ago entertained a bill to establish the value of the mathematical constant pi at 3.0 rather than at the more complex and difficult to deal with figure of 3.1416. It does demonstrate the critical lack of understanding on the part of the layman, however, who in this instance has confused the effects of solvent and vehicle and, in so doing, has created economic loss for those who must take time to testify at hearings.