Question from Ben Jones
Hello Debra,
I was thinking of buying a metal shed for the garden. All of the commericaly available ones are painted with polyester enamel paint? Would this paint be likely to offgas much after purchase? Would this be suitable for a person with moderate chemical sensitivity?
Id appreciate any advice you could give me, Many thanks in advance.
Debra’s Answer
This should be fine for you.
One thing to understand about plastics is that they come in many different forms. An “enamel” actually is pretty toxic during application, but when it dries, it is quite inert. Enamel paints are heat-cured to metal surfaces, which takes care of most of the outgassing.
I say “most” because enamel paint applied to a heater, for example, will continue to outgass when exposed to the heat of the heater. It actually takes a year or two of use for it to completely dry. Therefore, this shed will probably be fine, except if the sun is shining on it on a very hot day, there may be additional emissions from the heat.
