Original Post from Productivity Inc., Clean & Green Industrial Parts Cleaning Series Part 1: Environmental Considerations for Green Parts Cleaning Solvents
posted July 27, 2020
Clean & Green Industrial Parts Cleaning Part 1
If you are using legacy parts cleaning solvents, pending changes in state and federal law governing the use of hazardous parts cleaning solvents such as TCE, Perc, nPB, HFC’s, and others, WILL require you to rethink how your company can effectively meet your green parts cleaning requirements. A lot of solvents are being phased out or becoming more regulated in terms of personnel exposure limits and air emissions. In fact, Minnesota is poised to become the first state to ban trichloroethylene (TCE), a toxic chemical that can increase risk for certain types of cancer or serious health issues. The Governor signed the bill into law on May 16, 2020. This chemical is typically used as a vapor degreasing solvent for metal parts cleaning. The recently passed legislation prohibits the use of TCE after June 1, 2022. Facilities with air permits will need to replace the chemical with a safer, less toxic, environmentally-preferred alternative by that date.