Low solvent construction adhesives by MAPEI Australia

For many years, MAPEI has been pointing their research in the direction of developing products which are safe for the environment, installers and end users. Unfortunately, in many countries, there are no specific norms and standards for correctly and commercially identifying "ecological" products. Often installers and contractors are misled by friendly, catchy slogan and tend to choose products which do not respect the environment and our health.

The main problem when using these products is the emission of volatile organic compounds, such as solvents, biocides and plasticisers, which may cause considerable pollution problems to the air in living areas, the so-called indoor pollution.

In the 1970's, MAPEI brought products in water dispersion with low solvent levels onto all the markets, products which do not require fire-protection certificates for inflammable substances. In these products, even if the percentage is low, there is still a certain amount of solvent present, and this problem is particularly felt in countries which are highly committed to the use of safe chemical products.

MAPEI's commitment was further enhanced, therefore, by research programmes for developing products with an extremely low emissions of volatile organic substances (VOC) to improve well being in the buildings where they are employed. Thus the MAPEI "ECO" range was born.

The products in the ECO range were initially launched by MAPEI on the American market in the 1990's. They were then introduced to the European market, and in only a short time they replaced most products with a conventional dispersion base.