United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Pollution Prevention
and Toxics
(7406)
EPA744-F-95-005
September 1995
&EPA
Design for the Environment
Lithography Project
u.s. EPA"
What Is Design for the
Environment?
The Design for the
Environment (DfE) Program
harnesses EPA's expertise and
leadership to facilitate informa-
tion exchange and research on
risk reduction and pollution pre-
vention efforts. DfE works with
both large and small
businesses on a voluntary
basis, and its wide-ranging pro-
jects include:
• Changing general business
practices to incorporate
environmental concerns.
• Working with specific indus-
tries to evaluate the risks,
performance, and costs of
alternative chemicals,
processes, and technologies.
• Helping individual business-
es undertake environmental
design efforts through the
application of specific tools
and methods.
DfE partners include:
• Industry
• Professional Institutions
• Academia
• Environmental and Public
Interest Groups
• Other Government Agencies
Blanket Wash
Solutions for Small
Printers
Why IS EPA
With
There are more than 52,000 lithographic printers
m ^e United States. These small and medium-
sized businesses print materials such as books,
brochures, newspapers, magazines, and other items
that are fixtures in our daily lives. In doing so, they make an important
contribution to the nation's economy.
Offset presses utilized in the industry transfer the printed image from a
plate to a rubber or plastic blanket and then to the paper or other
medium for the final printed product. The cleanliness of the blanket is
a primary concern for producing high-quality images. Blanket washes,
consisting of varying types of solvents, are employed in removing ink,
paper dust, and other debris from the blanket cylinder. However, some
of these solvents can pose risks to human health and the environment.
New, potentially less harmful blanket washes are appearing on the mar-
ket, giving printers the opportunity to reduce impacts on the environ-
ment and minimize risks to workers. Testing new blanket washes, how-
ever, can be a time-consuming and expensive process.
The Design for the Environment (DfE) Lithography Project is a unique
voluntary effort between the lithographic printing industry and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that provides information about
less polluting materials and process alternatives. DfE's goal in working
with printers is to help them make more informed choices by easing the
search for and evaluation of cleaner processes, products, and technolo-
gies. Since blanket washes are the primary concern, they have been the
project's first focus. Through the demonstration of manufacturer sup-
plied, commercially available products at volunteer printing shops, the
assessment of associated human health and environmental concerns,
and the evaluation of other factors, the project will make information
available that will help printers make more informed decisions about
the products they bring into their shops.
HOW Did the DfE DfE began working with the printing industry in
Project 1992, when the Printing Industries of America
requested EPA's assistance in evaluating envi-
ronmental claims for products. This effort ultimate-
ly grew into projects with three separate sectors of the printing industry:
lithography, flexography and screen printing. Each project addresses a
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different area of environmental concern: for flexog-
raphy the focus is on the types of inks used; for
screen printing the focus is on screen reclamation;
and for lithography the project partners chose to
look at blanket washes. DfE lithography partners
include PIA, the Graphic Arts Technical
Foundation (GATF), the Environmental
Conservation Board of the Graphic Communications
Industry (ECB), The University of Tennessee, and
individual printers and suppliers.
DfE's work with the litho-
graphic printing industry is
conducted under three distinct
project areas: technical studies,
implementation, and outreach.
What Has the
DfE Lithography
Project
Accomplished?
Technical Studies
The DfE Lithography Project focused its efforts on
developing specific risk, performance, cost, and
other technical information on blanket washes to
help small and medium-sized lithographic printers.
The project partners agreed to focus their efforts
initially on the needs of small shops using small
(less than 26" wide) presses.
The DfE Lithography Project is examining the envi-
ronmental and human health risks of more than 38
potential substitute blanket washes. The project is
collecting health hazard and environmental release
information (i.e., releases to air, water, land) associ-
ated with the use of generic formulations found in
these blanket washes.
Between November 1994 and February 1995, per-
formance evaluations were conducted. Performance
was evaluated in two phases: 1) GATF's laboratory
performed screening evaluations of certain charac-
teristics of the blanket washes, and 2) eighteen
printing shops across the country volunteered to
provide performance information under real world
conditions of production. These shops used the
substitute blanket washes for one week. Press oper-
ators at the shops recorded the amount of product
used, the length of time needed to clean the blan-
ket cylinders, and their opinion of how well the
products worked.
The information collected in the performance
demonstration is being used to develop cost data
for each of the demonstrated blanket washes. In
addition, the DfE Lithography Project is identify-
ing simple workplace practice changes, pollution
prevention options, and other steps that printers
can implement easily and cheaply.
Information on the comparative risk, performance,
and cost of each of the substitute blanket washes
will be included in the DfE Lithography Project's
full technical report—the Blanket Wash Cleaner
Technologies Substitutes Assessment (CTSA),
which was published in draft form in July 1996.
Implementation Efforts
In an effort to encourage pollution prevention in
the lithography sector of the printing industry, the
DfE Lithography Project is developing a variety of
technical assistance for lithographic printers. For
example, plans are in place to develop computer
software that can help lithographic printers assess
the profitability of pollution prevention invest-
ments using total cost assessment techniques. DfE
is also planning to conduct pilot workshops for lith-
ographic printers on how to use the software.
Outreach Activities
The project will create different informational
materials based on the Blanket Wash CTSA. The
project partners will produce a simple, concise
brochure to explain to printers the results of the
technical work. A series of case studies will also be
developed to help lithographic printers sort through
some of the different factors that can make one
product a more attractive substitute than another.
Other information products geared to small and
medium-sized printers will also be developed.
How Can I Get More Information?
To learn more about the Lithography Project of
EPA's Design for the Environment Program or to
obtain the documents described in this fact sheet,
contact:
EPA's Pollution Prevention
Information Clearinghouse
(PPIC)
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency
401 M Street, S.W. (7409)
Washington, DC 20460
Tel: 202 260-1023
Fax: 202 260-4659
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