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Paint Fumes Cause Evacuation in Midtown Manhattan

Friday, November 4, 2011

More items for Good Technical Practice

A Manhattan office building was evacuated Thursday and four people were taken to the hospital after paint fumes from the Port Authority Bus Terminal renovation project filled the air.

Photo by Roger Rowlett

The Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.

The New York City Fire Department said the odor caused more than 100 people to leave the McGraw-Hill building at 330 W. 42nd St., while the building was being ventilated.

Witnesses said the fumes smelled of “nail polish remover” and the stench had been there for a few days, local news outlets reported. The New York Post reported that building occupants were vomiting due to the fumes.

“Our painting contractor at the Port Authority Bus Terminal stopped work as soon as we became aware of the problem,” the Port Authority said in a statement. “We followed all safety precautions during the work, and are carefully looking into the matter.”

The terminal is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and is the main hub for interstate buses into Manhattan. It is reported as the largest and busiest terminal in the U.S.

Port Authority did not respond to requests for more information.

More information: New York Post.

Comment from Catherine Brooks, (11/7/2011, 1:01 PM)

Not using no VOC paints?

Comment from Tom Schwerdt, (11/9/2011, 7:29 AM)

Catherine: It could be, though even "no VOC" paints can still have odors. The only hint is "nail polish remover" smell. Classic nail polish remover = acetone. Acetone is VOC exempt, and could be used in a "no VOC" paint. Other VOC exempt solvents are methyl acetate, TBAc and PCBTF - all of which have odors. I've had painters complain of the smell from PCBTF in a new low-VOC paint when they were perfectly fine with the smell from xylene and such in the prior version of the paint.

Comment from Catherine Brooks, (11/10/2011, 9:12 AM)

Why are those chemicals "exempt" from the low/no VOC? Not organic?

Comment from VCBud Jenkins, (11/10/2011, 12:40 PM)

The solvents which have been proven to not cause ozone to be formed when sunlight shines on them have been declared exempt from the air pollution laws. In California, TBAc is slowly being approved, one application at a time due to concerns that it might be too toxic.

Comment from Tom Schwerdt, (11/14/2011, 9:30 AM)

Catherine, the term "VOC" means something different to the EPA. All of these solvents would be classified as organic by a chemist, and they are all volatile. They just have very little ozone-forming capacity. Rather than looking at how much ozone a solvent can cause, EPA has just split them into "GOOD" (Non-VOC) and "BAD" (VOC) categories. Other than the start of some effort in California, there is no real effort to split out "forms a little ozone" from "forms a LOT of ozone."