Question from Shirley

Hi Debra, We painted 3 rooms in our house with YShield black paint ( it is from Germany and supposed low VOC and is to block emf’s wifi and cell phone coming into the home) I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and multiple chemical allergies and migraines so it was recommended to me by a couple of people and a dr to use this paint. You ground the black paint into an outlet so that the emf’s that come in get grounded. We painted over the black paint with Lifemaster Glidden Low VOC paint.

It was done 4 weeks ago and I still am reacting with a burning tongue, lungs and skin when I come into the house. Perhaps we should of primed over the black paint? I am not sure if I am reacting to the black paint or the low voc Lifemaster. Someone has said to prime over the walls with AFM safecoat paint. What do you know of this paint. Someone else said to use Mythic Paint or to hot box the house, bring in huge heaters and bring the temp up to over 100 degrees and bake the chemicals out of the walls. Help, Homeless in Ottawa.

Debra’s Answer

I’ve never used YShield paint so I don’t know anything about the protocol for covering with another paint that is a color that is more to your liking. But I’ll give you some general comments about painting.

1. Paint takes a couple of weeks to really dry, at least. Only a few hours to be dry to the touch, but at least several weeks to be “cured,” which is dry through and through. So when you paint another paint on top, it makes it more difficult to cure the paint underneath.

2. So now you have two paints that are not quite cured. I don’t know if you are reacting to one or the other or a combination of fumes from the two.

3. PAINTS ARE NOT DESIGNED TO BLOCK FUMES. So painting over your paint with another paint will not help. A sealant painted over may help, but then you have outgassing of the sealer, with more chemicals.

4. My favorite method is to use heat, however, I don’t know how that might affect the YShield paint.

I would start by calling YShield and see if applying another coat of paint might cause problems. And ask if you can use heat. Then I would use heat if that’s OK.

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