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Fuels & Lubes International Quarter Two 2016
This is the question that the metalworking fluids (MWF)
industry is wrestling with right now.
In December 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) issued a notice in the Federal Register requesting data
on environmental releases and waste management practices
for processing and use of chlorinated paraffins in different
industries and for different uses, to inform the risk assessments
for several medium- and long-chain chlorinated paraffins
(MCCPs and LCCPs). The comment period closed in March.
Both MCCPs and LCCPs are used as extreme-pressure
additives in metalworking fluids. The EPA estimates that almost
all of the MCCPs and LCCPs used in MWFs are released to water
in the environment either during formulation or use. However,
the American Chemistry Council (ACC) commented that “the
potential for release to water is grossly overstated and that in
most uses there are no releases to water at all.”
According to ACC, the EPA plans “to seek to eliminate the
manufacture and import of these substances. At the time, EPA
indicated a cessation date of May 31, 2016, though subsequent
presentations by EPA indicated that it may now be seeking a
date in mid-2017.”
Andrew M. Jacques, executive director of the Chlorinated
Paraffins Industry Association (CPIA), which includes Dover
Chemical, Inovyn and Qualice LLC as members, commented
that “EPA has regulatory options for managing these
substances beyond seeking to prohibit the manufacture and
import” under the Pre-Manufacture Notice (PMN) process.
MCCPs and LCCPs continue to be highly valuable to U.S.
manufacturing sectors including aerospace, automotive,
construction, defense, metallurgy, polymer manufacturing and
others. “Switching to alternative substances is not possible in
all uses, and even when alternatives may exist, reformulation
would be a lengthy multi-year process…. that will cost U.S.
industry billions of dollars,” said Christina Franz, ACC’s senior
director, regulatory & technical affairs.
While there is currently only one active manufacturing facility
in the U.S. producing MCCPs and LCCPs, production of CPs in
general has shifted to Asia. We have asked our medical expert,
Cristine Villena Amurao, to dig into the current knowledge on
chlorinated paraffins in our cover article entitled “The Truth
about Chlorinated Paraffins.”
这是金属加工液（MWF）行业目前正在努
力搞清楚的问题。
2015年12月，美国环保署（EPA）在联邦公
报上发布了一则通知，征询在不同行业、不同
应用中有关氯化石蜡的环境释放和废弃处置管
理实践中的数据，用于对几个中、长链氯化石
蜡（MCCP和LCCP）进行风险评估。征询意见
在三月截止。
MCCP和LCCP都在金属加工液中用作极压
添加剂。EPA估计几乎所用用于金属加工液的
MCCP和LCCP在配制或使用过程中最终都进
入环境水体。但是美国化学委员会（ACC）认
为“进入水体一说太夸张了，在大多数使用情况
中，根本没有进入水体。”
据ACC称，EPA计划“终止生产和进口这些物
质。同时，EPA指出终止日期为2016年5月31
日；不过EPA在后来的发言中提到这个日期有
可能被推迟到2017年年中。”
氯化石蜡行业协会（CPIA）的执行总监
Andrew M. Jacques称，按生产前通知程序
（PMN），“EPA除了禁止生产和进口这些物
质这个方案以外，还有其他监管方案可选”。该
协会的成员包括Dover Chemical、Inovyn和
Qualice LLC等。
对美国制造业而言，MCCP和LCCP还是具体
有很大的价值，这包括航空、汽车、建筑、国
防、冶金、聚合物制造等。“并不是所有的用
途中都可以使用其他替代物，即使有替代物，
重新开发配方也将是一个需要多年的漫长过
程……这会使美国的产业增加几十亿美元的成
本，”ACC法规及技术事务高级总监Christina
Franz说。
目前在美国只有一个正在生产MCCP和LCCP
的装置，氯化石蜡的生产已基本转移到亚洲。
我们邀请了医学专家Cristine Villena Amurao
在封面文章《氯化石蜡的真相》中深入介绍了
目前对氯化石蜡的有关知识。
How dangerous are
chlorinated paraffins?
氯化石蜡有多危险？
Vicky Villena-Denton
Editor-in-Chief & CEO
