Be Smart When Buying, Tossing Toxic Paint, Seven Gen Student Says

Special to Emmaus Patch by Mya Seibert

Picture this, a whole bunch of people dying just because of paint that went through the waste water treatment plant without getting completely treated! Also picture this, a baby animal like a bunny that drinks out of the water stream with toxic things from paint that got in the stream from a landfill nearby. What if that poor baby bunny got killed from people not disposing of paint the right way? Well that is what’s happening to humans and animals because of our poor choices. I think that people should use non-toxic paint so animals and humans don’t get sick.

People are getting sick from toxic paints. They are getting sick from breathing in vapors. If you breathe in the toxic fumes called Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, it can affect your respiratory system, your nervous system, and your skin. It can also cause cancer and possible death. Also you need to be careful about getting paint on your skin, because you could not know it’s there and lick it and get sick.

Animals are getting sick from toxic paints. They are drinking water that is near landfills that got toxic ingredients from paint in it. Animals can climb in the landfills and eat toxic paint. People aren’t disposing of paint the right way, and that is what’s causing the problem. What you do to dispose of it is use cat litter and mix it with paint so the paint dries. Then you just throw it away and it goes to the landfill. If you do this animals won’t be able to eat the toxic paints because it’s dry and they won’t get sick.

Did you know that there are non-toxic paints? There are several types. One is called C2 Lovo paint, one is natural paint, and a third is whitewash. Natural paint is made of berries. Whitewash is made of salt, calcium, water, and lyme. 

As you can see, people should use non-toxic paint so animals and humans don’t get sick from eating, drinking, or inhaling the fumes from paint. Go buy non-toxic paint the next time you need paint.

Mya Seibert, of Emmaus, is a currently a 4th grade student at Seven Generations Charter School in Emmaus. Seibert's class has been studying household hazardous waste and the students wrote opinion articles on the topic.