United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA/600/SR-94/019 April 1994
EPA Project Summary
Evaluation of Volatile
Organic Emissions Data for
Nonprocess Solvent Use in 15
Commercial and Industrial
Business Categories
C.M. Northeim, G.W. Deatherage, and L.A. Hollar, Jr.
The report gives results of a project
to gather and evaluate existing data on
nonprocess solvents; i.e., products not
directly incorporated into specific in-
dustrial processes. This information is
to be incorporated into an overall in-
ventory project assessing consumer
product use and emissions. An addi-
tional objective of this project is to
identify pollution prevention ap-
proaches and technology demonstra-
tion opportunities to enhance regula-
tory development efforts. The report
presents the data and information gath-
ered for nonprocess solvent use in the
following industrial/commercial busi-
ness categories: automotive repair;
bakeries; building renovation; chemi-
cal manufacturing; electrical equipment
maintenance and repair; florists; furni-
ture repair/restoration; heating, ventila-
tion, and air-conditioning services; ma-
chine shops; mold release agents; of-
fice products; quick print shops; road
paving; roofing; and textile manufac-
turing.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory, Research Tri-
angle Park, NC, to announce key find-
ings of the research project that is fully
documented in a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
information at back).
Introduction
Ozone nonattainment and air toxics is-
sues are among the most difficult environ-
mental problems facing the U.S. Signifi-
cant contributors to these environmental
issues are the volatile organic compound
(VOC) emissions that result from the use
of a wide range of consumer and com-
mercial products. Consumer products, as
defined by the Clean Air Act
Ammendments of 1990, include paints,
coatings, and solvents. For the purposes
of this research, this definition has been
interpreted as including the use of such
products in industrial applications when
the products are not directly incorporated
into a specific process (nonprocess sol-
vents).
The primary purpose of this project was
to gather and evaluate existing data and
information on nonprocess solvent use in
the following industrial and commercial
business categories:
automotive repair;
bakeries;
building renovation;
chemical manufacturing;
electrical equipment mainte-
nance;
florists;
furniture repair/restoration;
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heating, ventilation, and air con-
ditioning (HVAC) service;
machine shops;
mold release agents;
office products;
quick print shops;
road paving;
roofing; and
textile manufacturing
For the purposes of this effort, non-
process solvents are considered to be
commercial/consumer products that are
used by industry, in commercial opera-
tions, and/or by individual consumers. In
industrial operations, nonprocess solvents
are neither used as part of the production
line nor incorporated into a product or
chemically modified as part of a manufac-
turing process.
Cleaning and lubricating solvents as well
as solvents used in certain adhesives are
generally considered to be nonprocess
solvents. An exception to this is in-pro-
cess parts cleaning, such as vapor
degreasing. Although this report focuses
on emissions of nonprocess solvents that
are VOCs, information also has been gath-
ered concerning the nonprocess use of
1,1,1-trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA) and me-
thylene chloride (MeCI2), both of which
have negligible photochemical reactivity.
Relationship Between
Categories
Data gathered for specific categories
apply to many industries. For example,
many of the nonprocess solvents used in
building renovation, roofing, and HVAC
service are the same as those used in the
maintenance of large chemical, textile, and
bakery facilities. Other common mainte-
nance and repair operations, such as elec-
trical repair and simple metalworking, may
also take place in many large and small
facilities. Automotive repair work is per-
formed at facilities that maintain truck
fleets. In addition, all of the categories
use office products and equipment to some
extent.
Products and Operations
Common to Many Categories
Adhesives. In building renovation, ad-
hesives for wall and floor coverings, joints,
and pipe insulation are used. Building reno-
vators and HVAC service workers com-
monly use cements to connect polyvinyl
chloride pipes. In furniture renovation, and
occasionally electrical equipment mainte-
nance, plastic laminates are attached to
wood using contact cement. Furniture
renovators also use water- and solvent-
based adhesives to fasten wood to wood.
In roofing, rubber roofs are joined together
and attached to buildings using silicon
caulk adhesive. Rubber cements, rubber
cement thinners, and aerosol adhesives
are commonly found in offices. Each of
these adhesives may contain a wide vari-
ety of solvents.
Equipment Cleaning and Parts Wash-
ing. Parts washing machines are com-
monly used to clean grease, oil, and dirt
from machine parts in automotive repair,
machine shop, chemical, and textile facili-
ties. Parts washers contain petroleum dis-
tillates and possibly trace amounts of chlo-
rinated solvent. A brush, sometimes
mounted to the nozzle of the solvent de-
livery hose, is used to aid cleaning.
Facilities may also clean parts by im-
mersing them in, or wiping them with,
solvent. For example, many automotive
repair facilities clean carburetors by soak-
ing them in solvent. In road paving, petro-
leum-distillate-based solvents are used to
soak and clean parts removed during pe-
riodic maintenance and repair of heavy
equipment. Road paving and roofing op-
erations may use petroleum distillates,
kerosene, or diesel fuel for cleaning tools.
Periodically, solvents are used to clean
spray equipment that is used to apply
stains, sealers, and top coats for furniture
restoration or mold release agents for
molding operations. Solvents are also used
to clean overspray from spray booths used
in furniture restoration.
Paint Thinners and Strippers. Paint
thinners and strippers are widely used in
building renovation and furniture restora-
tion. Building renovators may remove var-
nishes, sealers, and finishes with .methyl-
ene chloride (MeCI2)-based strippers.
Wood furniture refinishers use MeCI2-
based strippers that often contain other
solvents, such as toluene, acetone, xy-
lene, naphtha, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK),
and/or one or more alcohols.
Other Products. Aerosol coatings are
used for touch-up work in electrical equip-
ment repair, furniture repair, and HVAC
maintenance. Acrylic coatings are also
found in many office environments. A va-
riety of aerosol lubricants and penetrants
are used in automotive repair, HVAC main-
tenance, and machine shops. Expanding
foam sealants are used in building reno-
vation and HVAC repair to prevent water
and air leakage from around pipes. A prod-
uct that is commonly used contains
hydrofluoroalkanes, 4,4,-diphenylmethane
diisocyanate (MDI), and oligomers of MDI.
Aerosol coatings may also be used as
sealants.
Additional Results for Each
Category
Automotive Repair. These facilities use
many prepackaged, solvent-containing
products, such as fuel additives and car-
buretor, choke, brake, and fuel injector
cleaners. Many of these products are aero-
sols. Floors are often cleaned with water.
Bakeries. Bakeries use limited quanti-
ties of nonprocess solvents. Federal regu-
lations control the use of solvents in the
presence of food. Therefore, solvents are
not used for routine bakery cleaning.
Building Renovation. Lacquer thinner is
often used to remove excess adhesive
when installing laminates. Electrical con-
tacts are cleaned with solvent. A finish,
used to brighten and seal ceramic tile and
grout, contains glycol ethers. Ceramic tile
mastic contains petroleum distillates.
Spackling putty, used when installing or
patching interior walls, contains a small
VOC component. Alternative paints, ad-
hesives, cleaners, and strippers which con-
tain little or no solvents are commercially
available. The need for solvent-based
cleaners is likely to be reduced as these
products improve and gain acceptance.
Chemical Manufacturing. Chemical
manufacturing facilities are generally large
operations composed of many smaller
units. Nonprocess solvents are likely to
be used extensively for both internal and
external equipment cleaning in batch and
continuous operations, for routine equip-
ment maintenance, and for floor cleaning.
Electrical Equipment Maintenance. Aero-
sol contact cleaners and flux degreasers
are commonly used in the maintenance
and repair of electrical equipment. These
products usually contain mixtures of halo-
genated solvents, sometimes combined
with hydrocarbons and/or alcohols.
Florists. Florists use water-based pre-
servatives containing only sugars, buffer-
ing salts, and biocides. Florists tend to
avoid using solvent-based cleaners be-
cause these products may have an ad-
verse effect on the condition of their plants
and flowers.
HVAC Service. Some HVAC technicians
clean coils and other parts removed from
refrigerators and air conditioners by wip-
ing or spraying them with solvents.
Water-based products, which may contain
a small percentage of glycol ethers, can
also be used to clean coils.
Furniture Repair and Renovation. Wa-
ter-based finishes are commercially avail-
able but not widely used. Alternative clean-
ers are also being introduced. One prod-
uct, derived from orange peel extracts,
can be used for cleaning hands, lacquer
overspray, and preliminary cleaning, it is
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not effective at stripping all finishes.
Stained upholstery is sometimes spot
cleaned. Products used for spotting up-
holstery may contain propylene glycol or
a petroleum distillate-type solvent. Water-
based products containing 5 to 7% sol-
vent are also available for general clean-
ing of upholstery.
Machine Shops. Parts may be cleaned
with 1,1,1-TCA and/or perchloroethylene
(perc) for inspection, grinding, or prior to
shipping. These solvents are applied us-
ing a vapor degreaser, by hand wiping, or
by dipping. Solvents can be found in the
cutting fluids and coolants used in ma-
chine shops. Straight oils, soluble oils,
and semisynthetic cutting fluids contain
petroleum oils. Synthetic cutting fluids do
not contain petroleum oils.
Mold Release Agents. External mold re-
lease agents used in plastic molding op-
erations traditionally contain solvent-
based carriers. These carriers are usually
the chlorofluorocarbons R-11 or R-12, but
other halogenated solvents, such as MeCI2,
may also be used. External release agents
with water-based carriers are commercially
available but they are usually more ex-
pensive than solvent-based products and
require a longer processing time since
they evaporate more slowly. Other alter-
native technologies are: release agents
with petroleum-based carriers;
semi-permanent release agents, which can
be used several times before needing to
be reapplied; internal release agents,
which are contained in the plastic itself;
and atomized release agents, which do
not require the use of a carrier.
Office Products. Inks in pens, markers,
stamp pads, and typewriter ribbons are
either solvent-or water-based. Permanent
inks are usually alcohol-based, but other
solvents, such as MEK, may also be used.
Most water-based inks contain glycols,
ether alcohols, and/or trihedric alcohols.
Many correction fluids and thinners con-
tain 1,1,1-TCA. One manufacturer has dis-
continued producing its thinner and refor-
mulated its correction fluid to eliminate
1,1,1-TCA. The new correction fluid con-
tains 40% VOCs. Solvents may be used
to clean keyboards and other surfaces.
Whiteboard cleaners may contain alcohols
and ether alcohols.
Quick Print Shops. Most quick printers
operate dry-process photocopiers but
some work with wet-process copiers. Sol-
vents are used in the operation and rou-
tine maintenance of both types of photo-
copiers. Even though the dry-process ma-
chines use dry toner, small amounts of
emitted organic vapors have been de-
tected. Wet-process copiers use liquid
toner and dispersant, both of which con-
tain naphtha, and primarily emit a mixture
of branched alkanes. Quick printers may
operate offset presses that use non-
heatset paste inks which commonly con-
tain petroleum hydrocarbons and/or veg-
etable oils. These presses use fountain
solutions that usually contain isopropanol
as well as other solvents.
Road Paving. Roads generally are con-
structed of either portland cement con-
crete (concrete) or bituminous asphalt con-
crete (asphalt). Concrete is an inorganic
mixture of cement, aggregate, and water.
Asphalt is a mixture of asphalt cement
and aggregate. Asphalt cement, a deriva-
tive of the bottom cut in the distillation of
crude oil, contains a maximum of 0.5%
VOCs. Cutback asphalt is based on a
mixture of asphalt cement and kerosene
or naphtha. When formulating cutback as-
phalt, approximately 20 to 45%, by weight,
of kerosene or naphtha is added to as-
phalt cement. Aggregate is added so that
the final product contains 5 to 5.5% of the
solvent and asphalt cement. The solvent
evaporates as the asphalt cures. Currently,
cutback asphalt represents less that 4%
of all asphalt prepared.
Roofing. Roof coverings are made of
various materials including rubber, tar and
gravel, plastic, metal, and foam. Tar and
gravel roofs are installed by heating pe-
troleum-derived asphalt to form a material
that is similar to the asphalt cement used
in road paving. Petroleum-derived asphalt
is pumped onto the roof and spread out
evenly with mops that are discarded after
being used. This asphalt contains virtually
no VOCs when it is properly distilled. Af-
ter the asphalt cools, sand and/or gravel
is spread over the surface. Cutback as-
phalt may be used in detail work, such as
flashing. When rubber roofs are repaired,
the area around the patch must be cleaned
to ensure proper adherence. Cleaners
used for this may contain heptane,
isopropanol, and toluene.
Textile Manufacturing. Stained goods
are usually spot cleaned with products
that contain 1,1,1-TCA, trichloroethylene,
or perc. Petroleum-distillate-based clean-
ing products may be used for spotting but
these products dry much more slowly than
the more widely used spot cleaners. Some
facilities may wash stained fabric with soap
to reduce the amount of spot cleaning
required.
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C. Northeim, G. Deatherage, and L Hollar, Jr. are with Research Triangle Institute,
PO Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194.
Michael Kosusko is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Evaluation of Volatile Organic Emissions Data for
Nonprocess Solvent Use in 15 Commercial and Industrial Business Categories,"
(Order No. PB94-152212/AS; Cost: $19.50; subjectto change) will be available
only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT No. G-35
EPA/600/SR-94/019
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