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Toxics Use Reduction Institute Tools for Substitution How to find an alternative cleaning product that will work for you – both for performance and safety
Toxics Use Reduction Institute
Tools for Substitution
How to find an alternative cleaning product that will work for you – both for
performance and safety
Selecting an Alternative
• When choosing an alternative– Don’t shift the risk
• From worker to environment
OR• From environment to worker
– Ex. Replacing flammable solvent with a ozone depleting chemical
– Want to select a product that is safer for one or the other
• Would be best if safer for both
What are Indicators at TURI’s Lab?
• The lab uses five criteria for screening products– Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)– Global Warming Potential (GWPs)– Ozone Depletion Potential (ODPs)– Hazardous Material Information System/
National Fire Protection Association (HMIS/NFPA)
– pH
How to Use the Indicators
• Incorporate into the product selection process
• Each product assessed using indicators
• Why These Five Indicators?
Volatile Organic Compounds(VOC)
• Chemicals that evaporate easily at room temperature– The term “organic”
indicates that the compounds contain carbon
– VOC exposures are often associated with an odor while other times there is no odor
• Both can be harmful– There are thousands of
different VOCs produced and used daily
• Acute– Eye irritation / watering – Nose irritation – Throat irritation – Headaches – Nausea / Vomiting – Dizziness – Asthma exacerbation
• Chronic– Cancer – Liver damage – Kidney damage – Central Nervous System
damage
VOCs
• Source control – Eliminate products that have high levels of
VOCs – Purchase new products that contain low or
no VOCs• (Environmentally Preferable Purchasing)
Global Warming Potential (GWPs)
• GWP– Used to compare the ability of different
greenhouse gases to trap heat in the atmosphere
– Based on • Heat-absorbing ability of the gas relative to base
chemical carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Decay rate of each gas relative to CO2
GWPs
• Some greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere– Include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane,
nitrous oxide, and ozone
• Others result from human activities– Very powerful greenhouse gases that are
generated in a variety of industrial processes, including cleaning processes
Ozone Depletion Potential (ODPs)
• Ozone layer screens out the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation– Small amounts of ozone are constantly being made
by the action of sunlight on oxygen– At the same time, ozone is being broken down by
natural processes– The total amount of ozone usually stays constant
because its formation and destruction occur at about the same rate
– Human activity has recently changed that natural balance
ODPs
• The ratio of the amount of ozone depletion of a chemical compared to the amount of ozone depletion of the same mass of CFC-11
• Certain manufactured substances can destroy stratospheric ozone much faster than it is formed
Hazardous Material Information System/ National Fire Protection Association
(HMIS/NFPA)
• HMIS– Hazard Communication
standard requires employers to evaluate materials and inform employees of the hazards
– Developed by comparing information on the health hazard, flammability, and physical hazard of the product to a set of criteria for each hazard category
• NFPA– Originally developed this
set of hazard rankings for their own purposes
– The rankings have proven to be very useful in the chemical industry
HMIS/NFPA
• HMIS/NFPA– Health– Fire– Reactivity/Instability
• Lab attempts to use products with a hazard less than 3
• 4 = Severe Hazard• 3 = Serious Hazard• 2 = Moderate Hazard• 1 = Slight Hazard• 0 = Minimal Hazard
pH Readings
• Provides a measure on a scale from 0 to 14 of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution – = 7 neutral – <7 acidic– >7 basic
• Try to avoid– >11 very basic, likely to cause corrosion
and/or tissue damage– <3 a strong acid
pH
• Neutral substances receive the highest Individual Indicator points
• Both very acidic and very basic are both avoided
Guidelines
VOC content (g/l)
0-24 Good
25-49 Good
50-74 Okay
75-99 Okay
100-149 Okay
150-199 Fair
200-299 Fair
300 Poor
>300 Poor
GWP Values
GWP = 0 Good
GWP = 1 (CO2) Okay
All others = Poor
ODP Values
ODP = 0 Good
All others = Poor
GuidelinespH
0-1.0 Poor
1.1-2.4 Poor
2.5-2.9 Fair
3.0-4.0 Okay
4.1-5.9 Okay
6.0-6.4 Good
6.5-7.5 Good
7.6-8.9 Good
9.0-9.9 Okay
10-11.4 Okay
11.5-11.9 Fair
12-12.4 Poor
12.5-12.9 Poor
13-14 Poor
HMIS/NFPA Point AssessmentH-0 F-0 R-0 Good
H-0 F-0 R-1, H-0 F-1 R-0 Good
H-1 F-1 R-0, H-2 F-0 R-0 Good
H-1 F-1 R-1, H-2 F-1 R-0 Okay
H-3 F-0 R-0 Poor
H-2 F-2 R-0, H-1 F-2 R-1 Okay
H-1 F-3 R-0 Poor
H-2 F-2 R-1 Fair
H-1 F-3 R-1, H-2 F-3 R-0 Poor
H-2 F-2 R-2 Fair
H-3 F-3 R-0 Poor
H-3 F-3 R-1, H-3 F-3 R-2 Poor
Example Screening Values
• Solvent
• Alkaline Aqueous
Product Name Indicator Value Comments
Perchloroethylene VOC 1620g/l High
GWP 0 Good
ODP 0 Good
HMIS H 2
HMIS F 0 Okay
HMIS R 0
pH NA Good
Product Name Indicator Value Comments
Brulin Formula 815 GD
VOC 1.1 g/l Good
GWP 0 Good
ODP 0 Good
HMIS H 1
HMIS F 0 Good
HMIS R 0
pH 11.6 Okay
Other Indicators
• Further analysis should be conducted to verify that the selected products are compatible with your process
• Determine if there are any health risks that the screening does not address
Other Possible Indicators
• Aquatic Toxicity• Biodegradability• Carcinogens,
Mutagens or Teratogens
• Concentration• Disposal• Endocrine disruptors• Eutrophication
• Fragrances and Dyes• Life Cycle
Assessment• Neurotoxins/CNS
Depressants• Packaging• Recyclability• Reproductive Toxicity
Simple Solutions for Surface Cleaning
• Having established a screening system for products in the lab– SSL has widened its selection methodology to
incorporate both product performance and safety– Products are screened simultaneously yielding
• List of products that have been proven to work• The products are potentially safer than the current
cleaning formulation
• Results of testing available through web-based tool
Find a Safer, Effective Alternative
• Simple Solutions Database – Used to identify safer and effective products
• Safety Scores– VOC, ODP, GWP, HMIS/NFPA, pH
• Matching Performance– Contaminant, substrate, equipment, current solvent
• www.cleanersolutions.org/SimpleSolutions
Simple Solutions Database
• From the testing performed at SSL– Performances of industrial and institutional
cleaning products– Database system was created so that
access to this resource could be performed easily and quickly
– The data is field-searchable by surface contaminants, surface substrates, cleaning equipment and solvents replaced
Search Methods
• Contaminant Search
• Solvent Replaced
• Product/Vendor Search
• Browse Clients
• Browse Vendors
Shortcut to Contaminant Search.lnk
Shortcut to Solvent Replace Demo.lnk
Shortcut to Product Search - Vendor.lnk
Questions?
• Simple Solutions On-line Database:http://www.cleanersolutions.org/SimpleSolutions/
Contact InformationJason Marshall
Manger of Laboratory Testing
Surface Solutions Lab
Toxics Use Reduction Institute
978-934-3133
