United States Air and Energy Engineering

Environmental Protection Research Laboratory

Agency Research Triangle Park, NC 27711

E AP Project Summary

Evaluation of Volatile

Organic Emissions Data for

Nonprocess Solvent Use in 15

Commercial and Industrial

Business Categories

Research and Development EPA/600/SR-94/019 April 1994

C.M. Northeim, G.W. Deatherage, and L.A. Hollar, Jr.

Introduction

Ozone nonattainment and air toxics issues are among the most difficult environmental problems facing the U.S. Significant contributors to these environmental

issues are the volatile organic compound

(VOC) emissions that result from the use

of a wide range of consumer and commercial 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 solvents).

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 maintenance;

• florists;

• furniture repair/restoration;

The report gives results of a project

to gather and evaluate existing data on

nonprocess solvents; i.e., products not

directly incorporated into specific industrial processes. This information is

to be incorporated into an overall inventory project assessing consumer

product use and emissions. An additional objective of this project is to

identify pollution prevention approaches and technology demonstration opportunities to enhance regulatory development efforts. The report

presents the data and information gathered for nonprocess solvent use in the

following industrial/commercial business categories: automotive repair;

bakeries; building renovation; chemical manufacturing; electrical equipment

maintenance and repair; florists; furniture repair/restoration; heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning services; machine shops; mold release agents; office products; quick print shops; road

paving; roofing; and textile manufacturing.

This Project Summary was developed

by EPA’s Air and Energy Engineering

Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC, to announce key findings of the research project that is fully

documented in a separate report of the

same title (see Project Report ordering

information at back).
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• heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) service;

• machine shops;

• mold release agents;

• office products;

• quick print shops;

• road paving;

• roofing; and

• textile manufacturing

For the purposes of this effort, nonprocess solvents are considered to be

commercial/consumer products that are

used by industry, in commercial operations, 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 manufacturing 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-process parts cleaning, such as vapor

degreasing. Although this report focuses

on emissions of nonprocess solvents that

are VOCs, information also has been gathered concerning the nonprocess use of

1,1,1-trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA) and methylene chloride (MeCl2

), 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 maintenance and repair operations, such as electrical repair and simple metalworking, may

also take place in many large and small

facilities. Automotive repair work is performed 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, adhesives for wall and floor coverings, joints,

and pipe insulation are used. Building renovators and HVAC service workers commonly use cements to connect polyvinyl

chloride pipes. In furniture renovation, and

occasionally electrical equipment maintenance, plastic laminates are attached to

wood using contact cement. Furniture

renovators also use water- and solventbased 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 variety of solvents.

Equipment Cleaning and Parts Washing. Parts washing machines are commonly used to clean grease, oil, and dirt

from machine parts in automotive repair,

machine shop, chemical, and textile facilities. Parts washers contain petroleum distillates and possibly trace amounts of chlorinated solvent. A brush, sometimes

mounted to the nozzle of the solvent delivery hose, is used to aid cleaning.

Facilities may also clean parts by immersing them in, or wiping them with,

solvent. For example, many automotive

repair facilities clean carburetors by soaking them in solvent. In road paving, petroleum-distillate-based solvents are used to

soak and clean parts removed during periodic maintenance and repair of heavy

equipment. Road paving and roofing operations 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 restoration. Building renovators may remove varnishes, sealers, and finishes with ,methylene chloride (MeCl2)-based strippers.

Wood furniture refinishers use MeCl2

-

based strippers that often contain other

solvents, such as toluene, acetone, xylene, naphtha, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK),

and/or one or more alcohols.

Other Products. Aerosol coatings are

used for touch-up work in electrical equipment repair, furniture repair, and HVAC

maintenance. Acrylic coatings are also

found in many office environments. A variety of aerosol lubricants and penetrants

are used in automotive repair, HVAC maintenance, and machine shops. Expanding

foam sealants are used in building renovation and HVAC repair to prevent water

and air leakage from around pipes. A product 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 carburetor, choke, brake, and fuel injector

cleaners. Many of these products are aerosols. Floors are often cleaned with water.

Bakeries. Bakeries use limited quantities of nonprocess solvents. Federal regulations 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 contacts 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, adhesives, cleaners, and strippers which contain 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 equipment maintenance, and for floor cleaning.

Electrical Equipment Maintenance. Aerosol contact cleaners and flux degreasers

are commonly used in the maintenance

and repair of electrical equipment. These

products usually contain mixtures of halogenated solvents, sometimes combined

with hydrocarbons and/or alcohols.

Florists. Florists use water-based preservatives containing only sugars, buffering salts, and biocides. Florists tend to

avoid using solvent-based cleaners because these products may have an adverse 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 wiping 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. Water-based finishes are commercially available but not widely used. Alternative cleaners are also being introduced. One product, 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 upholstery may contain propylene glycol or

a petroleum distillate-type solvent. Waterbased products containing 5 to 7% solvent are also available for general cleaning 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 using a vapor degreaser, by hand wiping, or

by dipping. Solvents can be found in the

cutting fluids and coolants used in machine 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 release agents used in plastic molding operations traditionally contain solventbased carriers. These carriers are usually

the chlorofluorocarbons R-11 or R-12, but

other halogenated solvents, such as MeCl2

,

may also be used. External release agents

with water-based carriers are commercially

available but they are usually more expensive than solvent-based products and

require a longer processing time since

they evaporate more slowly. Other alternative 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 contain 1,1,1-TCA. One manufacturer has discontinued producing its thinner and reformulated its correction fluid to eliminate

1,1,1-TCA. The new correction fluid contains 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. Solvents are used in the operation and routine maintenance of both types of photocopiers. Even though the dry-process machines use dry toner, small amounts of

emitted organic vapors have been detected. Wet-process copiers use liquid

toner and dispersant, both of which contain naphtha, and primarily emit a mixture

of branched alkanes. Quick printers may

operate offset presses that use nonheatset paste inks which commonly contain petroleum hydrocarbons and/or vegetable oils. These presses use fountain

solutions that usually contain isopropanol

as well as other solvents.

Road Paving. Roads generally are constructed of either portland cement concrete (concrete) or bituminous asphalt concrete (asphalt). Concrete is an inorganic

mixture of cement, aggregate, and water.

Asphalt is a mixture of asphalt cement

and aggregate. Asphalt cement, a derivative 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 asphalt, approximately 20 to 45%, by weight,

of kerosene or naphtha is added to asphalt 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 petroleum-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. After the asphalt cools, sand and/or gravel

is spread over the surface. Cutback asphalt 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 cleaning 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; subject to 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

EPA/600/SR-94/019

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

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