Evaluation of biobased products as alternative substitutes to toxic chemicals: The perils and promises of some selected products

Product substitution is one of the most common Toxics Use Reduction (TUR) or Cleaner Production (CP) strategies used for pollution prevention. This study was designed within the framework of these strategies as a tool to evaluate the perils and promises of two biobased products for their potential as substitutes to toxic chemicals. The products which were evaluated in this study were the commercial cleaning (floor strippers) and metalworking fluids (MWFs). These two product categories were selected because they are emerging in the market and their conventional counterparts from the petroleum based feedstocks have been linked to significant negative ecological, health and safety (EHS) impacts. Suitable methods were employed to evaluate the product categories focused in this study.; Potential biobased floor strippers. Probably biobased floor stripping products represent one of the most promising green or biobased cleaning products on the market today. Technical evaluations of the biobased floor strippers were carried out in two phases: Phase one involved the use of TURI's Surface Solutions Laboratory (SSL) standard operating procedures (SOP) for product analysis. The second phase used a small section of the TURI SSL floor to simulate janitorial operations in the field conditions.; Metalworking fluids. Metalworking fluids (MWFs) from the petroleum based feedstocks have been associated with many health effects such as asthma, dermatitis, and hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP). Biobased MWFs were evaluated to determine their technical performance characteristics based on stakeholders' views. The additives used to formulating biobased MWFs were identified and correlated to the information available on their toxicity in order to evaluate the EHS aspects of these products. Different criteria were used in this case including those immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH), irritation, LD50 and EC50 and carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and reproductive hazards (CMR).; Policies, programs, regulations and standards. This study found out that there are only a few activities such as funding from the federal and state agencies that can potentially promote some specific biobased products. Most activities promoting biobased cleaning products and MWFs, including funding for research and development, have emerged from two principal policies---Farm Bill (2002) and the Energy Bill.; Conclusions and recommendations. Some biobased floor strippers and metalworking fluids work technically well as petroleum based products. The costs of the two biobased product categories studied are higher than the costs of their counterparts' petroleum based products. The EHS performances of all the biobased floor stripping products evaluated were more superior than those of the petroleum based product. There was limited information to evaluate detailed EHS performance of the biobased MWFs.; It is recommended that larger field trials should be conducted. Floors of public buildings such as schools, hospitals or colleges could be used to evaluate the technical performance of biobased floor strippers. It would also be prudent to determine the perceptions of the janitors who will be working with biobased floor strippers and potentially be exposed to aerosols generated from these products. Detailed EHS analysis of the biobased floor stripper should be based on a broader framework of assessment which may incorporate detailed criteria such as carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and reproductive hazards among others.; The common additives used for formulating biobased MWFs should be investigated in order to determine their EHS implications or impacts on the technical performance of the MWF products. It is also recommended to encourage the use of good management practices to prevent negative EHS effects associated with the use of these MWFs---regardless of their sources.; In both case studies, further research would be beneficial. For example, epidemiological studies on the worker...