Despite well-established medical knowledge concerning the dangers of exposure to excessive levels of heavy metals, some coatings still use pigments containing them. In humans, the main threat with lead, cadmium etc are the various neurological and nervous system damage they cause through either direct contact with the paint film (e.g. inhalation of dust, ingestion of chips) or seepage into water system. Similar toxicity to animals makes water contamination particularly damaging to the environment and eco-systems. When purchasing paints/coatings, make sure all components of the system are totally free of these nasty materials.

Adding more curing agent in an effort to speed up the reaction is not a good practice. The reason is due to the way that epoxies harden through reaction. Put simply, in amine-cured, two-pack epoxy products, active sites on the epoxy react with active sites on the curing agent to form a chemical bond. For any given formulation, there will be a certain number of these sites available, and the objective is to try and match these exactly. If too much curing agent is used there will be left over amine that will leave the film with soft spots and reactive to other substances, e.g. moisture, air, other chemicals.

If an acceleration of reaction is required, the actual chemistry of the reaction taking place has to be altered somewhat. This can be achieved through using a different hardener (different amine compounds have different reactivities etc.) or through the addition of specialised catalyst products (which enhance the reactivity of the existing curing agent).

Please consult NMP before attempting to "speed up" any of our products.