Is it safe to paint home during pregnancy?
By Tasnim Jarin
It is definitely a good decision to renovate the dearest home after a certain period of years. And to enhance the beauty more you can pick up the trendy look for your home by painting the walls, changing curtains-cushions and most importantly setting up the perfect furniture to the perfect places inside and outside of the room. But wait one second! Are you worried that you won’t be able to paint your home because someone in the family is pregnant? If yes, then you must carry out some necessary research before choosing the paint and going for the process ahead.
Well, it is not, as if you cannot paint your home during those 40 weeks of pregnancy time. Of course, you have to be super concerned about your health and your unborn baby as well. What you really have to do is research a little bit more and choose the right product for your home. In that case, this article can guide you a bit to get the pros and cons before jumping into the final decision.
To choose the less harmful paint, you have to know that there are 3 basic categories of paint like latex, oil, and enamel. Now it is a challenge to predict how much toxicity a pregnant woman will inhale during this time. As the toxicity depends on the number of chemicals and solvents that can be found in the paint and also on the amount of exposure from it choosing the paint brand with the lowest amount of chemicals can be the right way to go during pregnancy time. The solvent is basically a petroleum-based chemical that can cause health problems if a pregnant woman inhales it too much. This may increase the risk of miscarriage and birth defects and cause future learning problems for the newborn baby. Of course, during the whole process of paint, you must hire someone to do the paint for your home and might one to locate yourself far from the whole process of painting and decorating.
If we talk about modern household paints, then the risk of getting harmed from paint fumes is quite low. The risk of harm to the unborn may be caused by solvent-based paints and old paintwork.
Thus to reduce the risk of getting affected by paint fumes you can follow few instructions-
- It would be wise enough not to take any risk during the first trimester of the pregnancy. It is the time when a baby’s organs start to develop. So as a precaution, it will be recommended to avoid painting until the 14th week of your pregnancy.
- Using water-based paints instead of solvent-based ones and spray paints is advisable.
- Make sure painted rooms are well ventilated by opening all windows or doors.
- Avoid drinking or eating in rooms where the painting is going on.
- It is a must to wear a mask inside the home if the painting is going on.
What paint should you use?
- Oil paint is not a good choice for painting while pregnancy. It contains a large number of solvents which can cause headaches, eye irritation, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue.
- Acrylic/latex paint is water-based and considered much safer than oil-based paint. Though it also contains certain solvents, ethylene glycol, ethers or biocides.
- These days Low VOC (volatile organic compound)paints are generally considered as the best choice for painting during pregnancy.
In this case, Berger Breathe Easy can be a good solution to paint your home during pregnancy. Under Berger Breathe Easy product family, there are four products, as in Breathe Easy Emulsion for Walls, Breathe Easy Water Sealer and Breathe Easy Wall Putty for wall preparation and Breathe Easy Water Based Enamel.
The Breathe Easy Emulsion is an environment-friendly paint that has absolutely low amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOC). Basically it has an extremely low/nil odor during application and drying. Among the three categories of paints, enamel/solvent-based paints are usually used for painting metal surfaces like grills. Thus using enamels at home during pregnancy is not advised at all. Although if you need to use this enamel/solvent-based paints, then the suggestion would be to choose the Berger Breathe Easy Water Based Enamel instead of any other enamel based paints.As this is absolutely odor-free, so no need to be tensed at all. Rooms painted with Breathe Easy Emulsion can be used within a couple of hours without any lingering smell. This paint is free from any heavy metals such as- lead, mercury, and chromium.
Thus having a room or rooms in your home painted should not be that risky for you and your unborn baby, if you choose products like Berger Breathe Easy Emulsion for your home. Now even in pregnancy, you can pre-plan to welcome the yet-to-be-born baby’s room by painting your favorite color on the walls. Wishing for a joyful journey ahead in pregnancy and Happy Motherhood to all the new and expectant mothers around!
