Hyderabad: A popular paint brand has roped in a well-known actress to endorse its new product, a ‘pollution-eating paint’. The company claims that the paint, which uses a new technology, can activate carbon that can absorb harmful pollutants, specifically formaldehyde.
Experts in the city said the rationale behind the product may be right, but its efficiency may not be as high as the company claims. Carbon is used for absorbing dirt from any surface, which is why it is seen as an additive in facewash creams.
Experts said that activated carbon is nothing but charcoal with a high surface porosity, which has the ability to have higher porous surface area.
“The activated carbon encourages a chemical process called ‘adsorbtion’ which pulls in fine particulates into its pores,” said Mr Bhadra Girish, an environment al engineer.
This ‘adsorbing’ ability of charcoal has made it an essential part of effluent treatment plants where the treated water is run through layers of activated carbon to absorb the leftover pollution. But despite all these, its usefulness in paints is debatable as there is no concrete study on activated carbon in reducing pollution.
“Activate carbon also has a holding capacity, so it remains unclear how the dust is removed. Moreover, activated carbon on a high temperature can release the pollutants back into the environment through a process called desorption,” noted Mr Bhadra Girish.
“We cannot really reduce pollution levels considerably using surface coatings. Formaldehyde is just one indoor pollutant. So reducing its level for a short span of times is not an adequate protection from pollution,” said professor Babu Rao, a retired scientist from IICT. The company claimed on its website that it can only effectively work for two years.
