Just found out that another former co-worker has cancer. He still needs more tests to get a complete diagnosis and prognosis, so I can't say whether it is related to the chemicals used in printing. He also served in Viet Nam and probably had exposure to Agent Orange so that could be a factor as well.
Just came across the following 2 washes. I feel sorry for what ever print shop is running them, makes you wonder how companies can get away with developing such a product.
http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...5tiYCA&usg=AFQjCNHDQEpioA8vd4S9pPYWbIoV_yrRSg
http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...5tiYCA&usg=AFQjCNGmhCuAonF4ATxgRNDEixs3iWgieA
Those two washes raise some interesting questions. First, no one would be selling formulas like these in order to reduce their costs (i.e. make more money at the expense of the customer's health) unless they are reprocessing solvent waste from some other industrial source. Most of the more exotic solvents listed on these two data sheets sell at premium prices compared to other, possibly less objectionable, solvents. Secondly, if the manufacturer is not formulating these products to maximize their profits, could they be trying to meet specifications presented to them by their customers? I doubt that any company is trying to harm their customers by selling toxic products (remember the people that make these products face a much higher and prolonged exposure risk to the ingredients than those who use the products). Perhaps people trained in chemistry and experienced in the solvent business have a different perspective on the health risks of solvents than the participants in this forum do. A pressman is exposed to more benzene each time they fill their car or motorcycle gas tank than they would be in months of pressroom work. Most gasoline sold worldwide contains at least seven percent benzene; compare this to the, usually trace, content of benzene in press washes and do the math.
This being said, greater customer awareness of chemical risk has moved the industry towards healthier products. What printers are willing to purchase dictates what the supply manufacturers make available, so if certain ingredients become unpopular (like chrome in fountain solution, chlorinated solvents in blanket wash, etc) they will disappear from the market.
You ask a difficult question. 'Healthier' is in the eye of the beholder and I will use chlorinated solvent as an example. Many people think chlorinated solvents were declared 'unsafe' and withdrawn from the market for health reasons but the phase out of chlorinated solvent manufacture was related to environmental, not health concerns. Pressroom solvents containing enough chlorinated solvent to render them non-combustible were sold for forty years as 'safety solvent' as they were significantly safer to use in an environment filled with paper, other solvents like alcohol, electric motors, and pressmen who used to smoke in the pressroom. The replacements for these products are usually combustible, if not flammable, placing a premium on them being safer in some other area, which they not always will be.
Perhaps a better answer to your question would be you need to communicate your concerns about specific ingredients you would like to avoid to your suppliers and buy the alternatives they suggest. Almost any, if not all, petroleum distillate solvents will be listed on a MSDS if it is prepared by a company complying with the US Hazzard Communication Act, I am not familiar with the MSDS requirements of other countries.
My experience from the fountain solution industry was that ingredients I considered to be safe to use were considered toxic in Europe (not toxic enough to not be present in common European consumer products though) where they considered breathing alcohol fumes to be therapeutic, I suppose. Since that time (back in the late 1980's) most European fountain solutions resemble very closely what we were selling twenty-five years ago and the objections to the ingredients are apparently long forgotten.
Modern life is filled with chemical exposures, ranging from aluminum and other metals in the bread you eat to glycol ethers in the beer and wine you consume, to surfactants in your shaving cream or deodorant, to complex biological agents in meats, just to name a few. The various chemists and medical people I have worked with or lived with over the years are less concerned about these exposures than people without these educational backgrounds, although I do not blame you for being suspicious and would encourage you to continue to pressure your suppliers for safer products, whatever that may mean.
You ask a difficult question. 'Healthier' is in the eye of the beholder and I will use chlorinated solvent as an example. Many people think chlorinated solvents were declared 'unsafe' and withdrawn from the market for health reasons but the phase out of chlorinated solvent manufacture was related to environmental, not health concerns. Pressroom solvents containing enough chlorinated solvent to render them non-combustible were sold for forty years as 'safety solvent' as they were significantly safer to use in an environment filled with paper, other solvents like alcohol, electric motors, and pressmen who used to smoke in the pressroom. The replacements for these products are usually combustible, if not flammable, placing a premium on them being safer in some other area, which they not always will be.
Perhaps a better answer to your question would be you need to communicate your concerns about specific ingredients you would like to avoid to your suppliers and buy the alternatives they suggest. Almost any, if not all, petroleum distillate solvents will be listed on a MSDS if it is prepared by a company complying with the US Hazzard Communication Act, I am not familiar with the MSDS requirements of other countries.
My experience from the fountain solution industry was that ingredients I considered to be safe to use were considered toxic in Europe (not toxic enough to not be present in common European consumer products though) where they considered breathing alcohol fumes to be therapeutic, I suppose. Since that time (back in the late 1980's) most European fountain solutions resemble very closely what we were selling twenty-five years ago and the objections to the ingredients are apparently long forgotten.
Modern life is filled with chemical exposures, ranging from aluminum and other metals in the bread you eat to glycol ethers in the beer and wine you consume, to surfactants in your shaving cream or deodorant, to complex biological agents in meats, just to name a few. The various chemists and medical people I have worked with or lived with over the years are less concerned about these exposures than people without these educational backgrounds, although I do not blame you for being suspicious and would encourage you to continue to pressure your suppliers for safer products, whatever that may mean.
I see you work at a packaging plant. What type of packaging do you manufacture?
Folding cartons.
Dan
Is ths cas number for lacolene 64742-89-8?
Lacolene goes by many names and could have a different cas number.
|
A 30-day Fix for Managed Chaos
As any print professional knows, printing can be managed chaos. Software that solves multiple problems and provides measurable and monetizable value has a direct impact on the bottom-line. “We reduced order entry costs by about 40%.” Significant savings in a shop that turns about 500 jobs a month. Learn how……. |
