Meeting VOC Guidelines – Performing High-Quality Work as Usual

Since the beginning of this year, the only paints and lacquers that may be sold anywhere in the EU fulfill the legal requirement of containing a defined, reduced amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). And starting in 2010, the amounts will be reduced even further. The plan is to replace them with new paint and lacquer systems that are more environmentally friendly and present less of a health hazard. Some of these new products will have to be handled differently from their predecessors, but users can rely on tesa protection and masking solutions as they have in the past, even under the new conditions.tesa solutions ensure that, just as users have come to expect, they will continue to be easy to use, yield optimum work results, and be removable without residue, even when working with water-based paint. And at the same time, they offer professional painters and contractors an opportunity to position their business as innovative and green.tesa has focused on environmentally friendly production methods and products for a long time now. All tesa paper masking products switched in 2004 to a production technology without organic solvents. The company is also especially proud of its production site in Offenburg, which was awarded the Blue Angel in 2005 by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety for its environmentally friendly production processes.

The products tesa offers for professional contractors fall into four categories. First, there are the three painter’s tapes for interior use: tesa® Painter’s Tape Premium 4306, tesa® Painter’s Tape 4348, and tesa® Masking Tape 4323. Then there are our three solutions for particularly challenging tasks: tesa® 4334 Precision Mask for precise painted edges, tesa® 7006 Sensitive Mask for sensitive surfaces, and tesa® 4319 for adhesion to curves.

And tesa has the right solution for outdoors as well: tesa® 4438 UV Paper Mask Premium, which is UV- and weather-resistant for up to eight weeks, and tesa® 4437 UV Paper Mask, which can withstand exposure for up to six weeks. Finally, large surfaces can be protected securely with the intelligent two-in-one solutions in the tesa Easy Cover® product range, which combine masking film and adhesive tape in a single product.

Additionally, all tesa solutions will have new labels starting on September 1, 2008. Pictorial icons will make it possible for users to determine easily each product’s core characteristics and fields of application at a glance. A new symbol, the “all paints” icon, shows that all tesa solutions are equally suitable for VOC paints and water-based ones.