Box Stores Phase Out Paint Stripper
A few days after coatings manufacturer The Sherwin-Williams Company's (Cleveland) recent announcement that it will be phasing out paint strippers that contain methylene chloride, home-improvement box store Home Depot also announced a phasing out.
On Monday, Home Depot announced that it would phase out paint removers containing methylene chloride and NMP by the end of this calendar year. Lowe’s, the nation’s other major home-improvement box store, had announced late last month that it would be doing the same.
The only methylene chloride product currently listed on the Home Depot’s website is a sprayable paint stripper in the Klean Strip line, manufactured by W.M. Barr.
Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams Company announced earlier this month that it will be phasing out the use of methylene chloride in its paint removal products by the end of the year.
The decision comes after a letter was penned to the company—by groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families and Mind the Store—urging Sherwin to “take immediate action to phase out the sale of paint removers that contain the chemicals methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP).”
Sherwin announced the changes via a memo Friday (July 15) from Corporate Communications Director Mike Conway, as well as with a tweet, which said, “Our customers are our #1 priority at Sherwin-Williams, so we are eliminating methylene chloride paint strippers from our stores. We have several effective alternatives available to serve your project needs.”
Conway’s statement detailed that Sherwin only had two paint-stripping products that contained methylene chloride and that they do not have any products on the shelf that contain NMP.
Industry Response
Industry reaction to the chemicals has heightened over recent years, and last month the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had decided to move forward on an original ruling on the use of methylene chloride.
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| Aleksandr Volunkov |
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On Monday, Home Depot announced that it would phase out paint removers containing methylene chloride and NMP by the end of this calendar year. Lowe’s, the nation’s other major home-improvement box store, had announced late last month that it would be doing the same. |
The EPA said that it:
The previous risk assessment that the announcement referred to, took place in January 2017, when the agency proposed prohibiting the consumer and commercial paint-stripping uses for the chemical.
While consumer and environmental groups, and relatives of individuals killed or sickened by exposure to the chemical, have lobbied hard for the ban, some industry groups argue that methylene chloride still has a place in paint removal when safely handled.
“When used as directed, [methylene chloride strippers] are the best products for efficient and effective paint removal,” the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, which produces the chemical, said in a statement earlier this month. “These paint strippers have been safely used by consumers for more than 60 years.”
The HSIA noted that it does support a ban on the strippers in bathtub refinishing because of the lack of adequate ventilation in such situations.
The American Coatings Association has reportedly come out in opposition to outright bans on the chemicals right now.
