Since chemistry caught up with the capitalistic ambitions of the the Industrial Revolution, industrial companies and organizations have used toxic chemicals for various commercial and industrial work processes, such as defluxing metal after heat treating processes, producing asphalt, dry cleaning, and the list goes on.
Today, these toxic chemicals have largely fallen out of favor for three reasons: They’re dangerous to human health, harmful to the environment, and, in some cases, their use is heavily regulated by government agencies at the federal, state, and/or municipal level. If you need to replace a solvent that has undesirable traits in order to achieve chemical toxic reduction, Ecolink is an excellent choice to help you do it for the reasons below.
We Tell You the Truth About Cleaners
It would be great if there were an industrial cleaner that was safe enough to cause no negative reactions in humans or the environment. However, the reality is that such a solution doesn’t exist. Environmentally preferred and environmentally safe cleaners are safer than toxic solutions they’re formulated to replace. However, solutions that promote chemical toxic reduction still require safety considerations.
As we state on our business website, “There are no ‘perfect substitutes’ [that] reduce or eliminate hazardous solvents in the workplace. Every cleaning solution carries a matrix of risk factors for environmental, health, or safety reasons. Inevitably, any chemical choice involves weighing the alternatives.”
- We Maintain an Environmentally Preferred Choices Ladder
Not all environmentally preferred cleaners are equal in terms of safety. That’s why we created an Environmentally Preferred Choices Ladder that shows precisely how environmentally preferred a cleaner is. The ladder has seven levels of “environmental preference” that are applied to cleaners. See the ladder by visiting this link on our business website.
- We Apprise You of Upcoming Chemical Regulations
Industrial cleaners can go from unregulated to heavily regulated or banned within a few months’ time. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) often gets the ball rolling by placing a solvent on a list of reportable chemicals — a move that’s often followed by significantly regulating the solvent or banning it by placing the solvents on the EPA’s List of Lists.
When the EPA decides to regulate or ban a solvent for large-scale use, it wants to give companies and organizations time to find replacement solvents that work like the old solvent, but have a vastly better safety profile. We want to give you the same opportunity. That’s why we report on upcoming EPA chemical regulations as soon as they’re announced.
- We Offer Stock Products and Custom Formulations
In some cases, achieving chemical toxic reduction by replacing a toxic solvent with one that has the same cleaning power can be tough, especially if you limit your options to stock solvents. Sometimes, stock solutions work. However, when they don’t, having a custom cleaner formulated is often the best option for receiving a cleaner that works great and has fewer negative variables.
Contact Us Today
If you need to reevaluate your line of industrial solvents to achieve chemical toxic reduction, Ecolink is here to help. Get started on selecting solvents that have a better safety profile — and, therefore, better usability — by calling (800) 563-1305, or use our contact form. We look forward to helping you select safer solvents!
Industrial Degreasers & Sustainability: Recommendations From The AIC
/in Industrial Degreasers/by Industrial DegreasersAs its name makes clear, the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) is dedicated to sustaining our cultural heritage through the conservation of important historical areas, historical artifacts, and works of art. It may sound like the AIC has nothing to do with the industrial solvent industry, but the conservation goals of the organization are impacted by the use of solvents in terms of solvent toxicity and how solvents are processed after use.
Recommendations for Solvent Sustainability
The AIC is primarily concerned with the conservation of historical and artistic cultural resources, but the organization’s basic recommendations for using industrial solvents are worth noting, as they help lead companies down the path of combining industrial degreasers and sustainability of degreasers in the same, streamlined cleaning process. Below are four excellent recommendations from the AIC that bode well for industrial degreasers and sustainability.
If the degreasers you use end up in the waste trap due to their non-recyclable formulation, step one for combining industrial degreasers and solvent sustainability is selecting degreasers that are actually sustainable, such as degreasing solvents that can be condensed and recycled in a sealed parts washing system after the degreasing process is complete.
Only buying the amount of solvent you need benefits the environment by requiring less energy and natural resources to be invested in solvent production. If you routinely perform industrial cleaning operations, you may need a large supply of solvent on hand at all times. Even so, limiting your purchases to only what you need can generate a positive impact over time.
Most companies are financially savvy and only use as much degreaser as their cleaning operations require. However, many companies have the option of making their degreasing processes more efficient (e.g., using high boiling degreasers in parts washers that facilitate solvent recycling). Doing so can both benefit the environment and help reduce annual solvent expense for end users.
Most degreasers can only be reused to achieve best results after they are purged of soils removed during the degreasing process. So, reusing as much solvent as you can depends on implementing solvent recycling technology that properly prepares degreasers for reapplication. Mentioned above, using parts washers that facilitate solvent recycling is an effective way to achieve the goal.
Need Sustainable Industrial Degreasers?
If so, contact Ecolink. Industrial degreasers and sustainability is one of our areas of speciality, as is sustainability regarding the other categories of solvents that we supply. Solvent sustainability can do more than help preserve some of our most treasured historical, artistic, and natural resources; it can also help companies reduce solvent expenditures and mitigate solvent waste removal cost.
To get started on implementing sustainable degreasers for all of your industrial degreasing applications, contact us today by calling (800) 563-1305, or use our contact form. We look forward to helping you combine industrial degreasers and sustainability of solvents in the same cleaning processes for the benefit of your company and the environment.
Should you Reduce Tetrachloroethylene (PERC) Exposure?
/in Chemical Safety, Ecolink News/by Industrial DegreasersSince the mid-1930s, PERC, also known as perchloroethylene, PCE, tetrachloroethylene, and tetrachloroethene, has been an effective organic solvent that has mainly been used in the dry cleaning industry and to a lesser extent, in metal degreasing. PERC was an ideal dry cleaning solvent because of its excellent cleaning power, stable, non-flammable properties, and gentleness towards many articles of clothing. Many of the qualities that made PERC a desirable dry cleaning solvent also contributed to its usefulness in vapor degreasing. However, there were concerns that workers who routinely breathed excessive amounts of the solvent vapor or spilled PERC on their skin were at risk of developing health problems. In 1993, research data had led many organizations to believe that PERC was a potential human carcinogen; as a result, California and the EPA decided to begin regulating the use of PERC by establishing a Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) and producing advisory content concerning workplace exposure reduction. The current Occupational Safety and Health Administration PEL for PERC is 100 parts per million (8-hour TWA).
Although the dry cleaning industry has refined the control of PERC and created new equipment that has much lower exposure than older models, there is still a necessity to reduce employee exposure to the solvent in order to prevent health hazards that could result from long-term exposure.
Possible health effects of PERC Exposure
Primary Sources of PERC Exposure
Replacement: Safe for You and Your Employees!
With increasing regulations regarding PERC usage, the best solution to keep employees safe and prevent compliance headaches is replace PERC and use FluoSolv! FluoSolv is a solvent degreaser that is also commonly used for metal degreasing. If our existing blends of FluoSolv aren’t right for you, then contact us to create a custom blend that fits your needs! There are no charges for samples (up to 1-gallon), so check our FluoSolv page or give us a call today!
Spray Gun Solvent Cleaners: A Solution for Aerosol Solvent
/in Aerosol/by Industrial DegreasersDoes it seem odd that the cans of aerosol solvent your organization uses are about the size of the cans of aerosol cleaner you use at home? If you run an industrial operation that relies on aerosol solvent for business-critical cleaning applications, there’s a good chance that you use more solvent in the workplace than at home.
So, why doesn’t your organization purchase aerosol in cylinder drums that hold 36 pounds of cleaner, and are about the size of a butane drum you might use in a gas-powered grill? Making the switch can help you save money on solvent purchases and achieve a smaller footprint for solvent storage, but these aren’t the only potential benefits. You also have the chance to implement spray gun solvent cleaners, which we discuss below.
Why Spray Gun Solvent Cleaners?
Spray gun solvent cleaners are applied by using a handheld spray gun that’s connected to the cylinder of aerosol solvent, which is positioned on a small to midsize, two-wheel dolly for easy transportation. Dispersing solvent using the gun gives you greater control over the amount of aerosol deployed and the speed of its release, each of which can be controlled by manipulating a valve on the cylinder that holds the solvent.
For many organizations, these characteristics are ideal for dispensing aerosol for industrial cleaning applications for two reasons: A wider stream of particles can be emitted compared to using a spray can, making spray gun solvent cleaners ideal for cleaning the largest parts; and the force of the solvent stream can be stronger compared to using a can, making the cleaners ideal for powering through tough accumulations.
Using Spray Gun Solvent Cleaners
The best way to see how spray gun solvent cleaners operate is to watch one in action. Here’s a video of a spray gun that’s used with our solvent cylinders. As you can see from the video, setting dispersal parameters for the solvent stream can be done in a matter of seconds, and the spray nozzle through which it’s dispersed is easy to handle. We design our solvent sprayers ergonomically to support the productivity of cleaning operations.
Receive More Information Today
Ecolink has a rich history of helping companies and organizations of all sizes implement environmentally safe and environmentally preferred cleaning solvents. Many of our customers can meet cleaning needs with the help of our stock solvents that are ready to ship, but we also accept orders for custom formulations to help users that have unique cleaning requirements. In either case, you can receive a free test sample of a solvent before you place an order.
Whether a stock product or a custom formulation best meets your needs, you also have the option of receiving it in a cylindrical drum for use with the spray gun cleaner. For additional information about using our products in the form of spray gun solvent cleaners, please call us today at (800) 563-1305, our use our contact form. We look forward to helping your organization implement the best business-critical solvent solutions, and use them most efficiently.
Why Make Ecolink Your Choice for Chemical Toxic Reduction?
/in Ecolink News/by Industrial DegreasersSince chemistry caught up with the capitalistic ambitions of the the Industrial Revolution, industrial companies and organizations have used toxic chemicals for various commercial and industrial work processes, such as defluxing metal after heat treating processes, producing asphalt, dry cleaning, and the list goes on.
Today, these toxic chemicals have largely fallen out of favor for three reasons: They’re dangerous to human health, harmful to the environment, and, in some cases, their use is heavily regulated by government agencies at the federal, state, and/or municipal level. If you need to replace a solvent that has undesirable traits in order to achieve chemical toxic reduction, Ecolink is an excellent choice to help you do it for the reasons below.
We Tell You the Truth About Cleaners
It would be great if there were an industrial cleaner that was safe enough to cause no negative reactions in humans or the environment. However, the reality is that such a solution doesn’t exist. Environmentally preferred and environmentally safe cleaners are safer than toxic solutions they’re formulated to replace. However, solutions that promote chemical toxic reduction still require safety considerations.
As we state on our business website, “There are no ‘perfect substitutes’ [that] reduce or eliminate hazardous solvents in the workplace. Every cleaning solution carries a matrix of risk factors for environmental, health, or safety reasons. Inevitably, any chemical choice involves weighing the alternatives.”
Not all environmentally preferred cleaners are equal in terms of safety. That’s why we created an Environmentally Preferred Choices Ladder that shows precisely how environmentally preferred a cleaner is. The ladder has seven levels of “environmental preference” that are applied to cleaners. See the ladder by visiting this link on our business website.
Industrial cleaners can go from unregulated to heavily regulated or banned within a few months’ time. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) often gets the ball rolling by placing a solvent on a list of reportable chemicals — a move that’s often followed by significantly regulating the solvent or banning it by placing the solvents on the EPA’s List of Lists.
When the EPA decides to regulate or ban a solvent for large-scale use, it wants to give companies and organizations time to find replacement solvents that work like the old solvent, but have a vastly better safety profile. We want to give you the same opportunity. That’s why we report on upcoming EPA chemical regulations as soon as they’re announced.
In some cases, achieving chemical toxic reduction by replacing a toxic solvent with one that has the same cleaning power can be tough, especially if you limit your options to stock solvents. Sometimes, stock solutions work. However, when they don’t, having a custom cleaner formulated is often the best option for receiving a cleaner that works great and has fewer negative variables.
Contact Us Today
If you need to reevaluate your line of industrial solvents to achieve chemical toxic reduction, Ecolink is here to help. Get started on selecting solvents that have a better safety profile — and, therefore, better usability — by calling (800) 563-1305, or use our contact form. We look forward to helping you select safer solvents!
Is Your Company Aware of the TURA Chemical List?
/in Worker Safety/by Industrial DegreasersWhen we talk about the deleterious effects that toxic industrial cleaners can have on humans and the environment, we often reference the Environmental Protection Agency’s List of Lists — a list of chemicals whose regulation or ban is enforced by the federal government. But state governments haven’t been sitting idly by while the EPA does all the work. As Massachusetts’ Toxic Use Reduction Act (TURA) shows, the fight for better human and environmental safety through the use of non-toxic cleaners is alive and well at the state level, too.
History of the TURA Chemical List
On July 24, 1989, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis signed the TURA into law, which immediately affected the Eastern Seaboard state in several ways. Initially, the TURA set out to achieve the following five goals:
Helping the state achieve the goals are four partner organization: the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), the Office of Technical Assistance and Technology (OTA), The Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), and Administrative Council on Toxics Use Reduction. As described below, with the support of these entities, the TURA Act has been successful since its implementation over 25 years ago.
Effects of the TURA Act
The advent of the TURA Act set in motion several important accomplishments related to the reduction of toxics throughout Massachusetts. Highly notable have been a 50 percent reduction in the generation of toxic waste (accomplished in 1998), and the following achievements (accomplished by 2005) of the “Core Group” of industries that the TURA requires to report on their use of toxics:
The act is designed to benefit businesses while goals are pursued, providing the following advantages, regardless of business’ size or Core Group status: modernization of production practices, improvement of operation and maintenance, reformulation of products with non-toxic components, and recycling of leftover raw materials during production.
Most Recent List of Chemicals on TURA
Like the EPA’s List of Lists, Massachusetts’ TURA Act has grown to include more substances than it originally listed in 1989. View the current list in its entirety by accessing the link. If any of the chemicals your company or organization uses appear on the list, contact the team of chemists at Ecolink about implementing an environmentally preferred replacement.
Are Your Chemicals on the TURA List?
Is so, now is the time to start the process of replacing them for four reasons: to protect the health of workers, better protect the environment, avoid government fines for usage violations, and avoid the financial fallout of chemical injuries in the workplace, especially: increased number of sick days taken, workers compensation claims, and chemical injury lawsuits.
Ecolink specializes in providing industrial, eco friendly cleaning solutions in a variety of categories. With our solutions in place, you can rest easier, knowing that you use the best products for the safety of your workers and the environment. Call us today at (800) 563-1305, or complete the contact form on our website. We look forward to assisting you!