Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Industry Description
In ancient times, soap (whose largest market remains bar soap for personal bathing)
was made in huge outdoor kettles by boiling animal fats, oils, and lye or caustic soda.
The resulting alkaline hydrolysis reaction was called saponification – literally “soap
making”. And though popularly identified with soaps and house-hold cleaners, the
cleaning products industry today has grown to a technologically sophisticated and
diverse array of products formulated from a vast range of chemicals. The key
chemical(s) contained in each cleaner
determine any number of possible cleaning processes..
• Polishes
• Deodorizers
• Spot cleaners
• Disinfectants
• Degreasers
• Rinses
• Detergents and soaps
As mentioned, the production of cleaning products requires the use of many toxic
agents and chemicals that are potential environmental hazards – making the list of
contaminants for this industry quite large.
Alkyl benzene sulfonates result from many types of detergent production and do not
biodegrade, meaning they do not break down chemically from bacterial action but
remain in their original chemical state. This is especially serious because while they
may not degrade, they do dissolve easily and therefore are a hazard to soil and
groundwater and the presence of benzene is a danger to any living organism it
touches.
“Builders” or sequestering agents are often added to a detergent to increase its ability
to suspend dirt. Phosphates are the most effective builders; however, they typically
pass unchanged through wastewater treatment plants and these chemicals spur
overgrowth of algae (called “eutrophication”), choking streams and rivers, a
significant environmental problem.
Bleaches are added to cleaners to lighten, brighten, disinfect and remove stains. They
include sodium hypochlorite or sodium perborate and sodium percarbonate. Here,
significant risk comes from incompatible chemical storage, improper/inadequate air
processing equipment, and improper labeling.
Ammonia cleaning products are made of volatile alkali that leave no residue as they
dry and therefore are often used for cleaning glass and certain other polished
surfaces. They are manufactured through a process that uses steam and natural gas
or hot coke to produce hydrogen and steam, which is forced through incandescent
coke to produce nitrogen. After various refinements, these gases are subjected to
high temperatures and pressures. Clear hazards are posed from corrosion of storage
tanks, improper or inadequate air processing equipment, flammable substances,
incompatible chemical storage, inadequate ventilation and/or safety equipment.
Many of the organic solvents pose such significant hazards to health and the
environment that their use is stringently regulated and misuse is severely penalized.
However, widespread exposure continues to come from spills during handling,
improper labeling, incompatible chemical storage, inadequate training programs,
inadequate ventilation, improper safety equipment, and inadequate air processing
equipment.
The need for cleaning products has been with us for countless generations in
increasing degrees of complexity and technical sophistication. However, the
awareness of the potential hazards of those complex chemical mixes had not been
fully appreciated until relatively recently. Before the enactment in 1976 of the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), storage, transport and disposal of
toxic or hazardous materials were not nationally legislated. There was no centralized,
managed process with sufficient muscle to address issues of environmental pollution
and potential hazards. As a result of the ingredients, the process, and lack of
stringent risk management guidelines in the past – this industry’s risk for
environmental exposure is high.
Here’s why –
Environmental risk assessment and management for the cleaning products industry
are strategic business tools for assisting this industry segment in meeting its
environmental regulatory obligations. This industry, by the nature of what it produces
and how it produces its products and distributes them, is at risk for multiple
environmental exposures. Through the use of environmental insurance products and
solid risk management practices, cleaning products manufacturers can be assured
that they are taking the necessary steps to preserve their bottom line and the
environment.