Derivative Financial Instruments and Hedge Activities (Additional Information) (Details) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended											9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($) Year Contract	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($) Year Contract	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 EUR (€)	Jul. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011 EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Settlement Date 15 March 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Settlement Date 15 March 2013 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Settlement Date 15 March 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Settlement Date 15 March 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Settlement Date 15 March 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Forward starting swaps [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Foreign currency contracts [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Foreign currency contracts [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Currency Swap [Member] USD ($)
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Line Items]
Ineffective portion of expense																$ 4.0	$ 0	$ 4.0	$ 1.0
Fair value of foreign currency contracts not designated as hedges	0		0		0.4
Fair value of forward currency contracts liability hedging against the exposure to exchange rates on short-term intercompany transactions denominated in foreign currencies	(3)		(3)		(5)
Forward currency contracts hedging against changes in fair value of certain firm sales commitments denominated in foreign currencies, amount converted to the South Korean won	65		65		91
Contracts conversion period			21 months		30 months
Contracts conversion period end date			Jun. 30, 2014
Fair value of forward currency contracts asset (liability) hedging against changes in fair value of certain firm sales commitments denominated in foreign currencies	1		1		(1)
U.S. dollar to euro cross currency swap contracts	9		9
Nine U.S. dollar to euro cross currency swap contracts, notional amount					1,160						600	600	560		560
Notional amount converted to cash														1
Fair value of nine U.S. dollar to euro cross currency swap contracts	(66)		(66)		(120)
Euro-denominated borrowings hedging a portion of PPG's net investment in European operations						300		300
Accumulated pretax unrealized translation gains (losses) in AOCI, related to both the euro-denominated borrowings and the cross currency swaps that have been designated as hedges of net investments			49		14
Variable interest rate debt of total borrowings									25.00%	50.00%
Amount interest rate swaps converted from fixed interest rate debt to variable rate debt					445
Proceeds from termination of interest rate swaps			29	19
Fair value of interest rate swaps contracts					26
Derivative, fixed interest rate	4.80%		4.80%
Swaps anticipated term	10		10
Settlement of forward starting swaps			(121)	0
Notional amount of swaps outstanding to hedge exposure to variability of interest payments of future debt refinancing	400		400		400
Amount deferred in AOCI	120		120
Effective interest rate							5.80%
Fair value of swap contracts to manage exposure to variability of interest payments of future debt refinancing					(92)
Fair value of natural gas swap contracts to manage exposure to fluctuating natural gas prices					(9)
Shares of PPG stock that are to be contributed to the asbestos settlement trust	1,388,889		1,388,889		1,388,889
Total principal amount payable for PPG shares contributed to the asbestos settlement	62		62		62
Fair value of the equity forward arrangement to mitigate the impact of changes in fair value of stock contributed to the asbestos settlement trust	101		101		56
Other comprehensive pretax gain (loss) related to derivative financial instruments			(16)	(47)
Other comprehensive income net gain (loss), net of tax, related to derivative financial instruments	(4)	(32)	(10)	(29)
Other comprehensive income net gain (loss), net of tax, realized gains (losses) related to derivative financial instruments			(30)	(8)
Other comprehensive income net gain (loss), net of tax, unrealized (losses) related to derivative financial instruments			$ (46)	$ (55)