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

jason@turi.org

978-934-3133