Electro-Wash VZ Degreaser

Every organization using hazardous chemicals within their facility has the responsibility to equip their facility and personnel to maintain exposure levels below the TLV. Personal monitoring badges can be used to measure exposure of a specific material. Then, depending on the threshold limit and the application, exposure can be controlled with PPE like masks, face shields, respirators, and even coveralls. If they don’t reduce exposure below the recommended limit, you will need to consider a special ventilation hood or even containment booth. As you can see, as the exposure limit gets down to a certain level, the equipment required to safely use the solvent can get impractical. At that point, your best option is to consider a safer alternative.

The personal hazard associated with a solvent is often defined using Threshold Limit Value (TLV), which is the recommended average exposure in an 8-hour day, 40 hour work week. The lower the TLV of a particular substance, the less a worker can be exposed to without harmful effects. TLV is stated on the SDS of chemical products, in additional to recommended personal protection equipment (or PPE). The threshold limit value of a solvent is generally set by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). The unit of measure is Parts Per Million (PPM). 

Hold object to be cleaned in vertical position. Pull trigger gently to control solvent flow rate. Scrub with brush from top to bottom, allowing the liquid to flush away contaminants. 

No, it should not be a concern. Many of Chemtronics' nonflammable solvents (e.g. Electro-Wash VZ, Flux-Off Tri-V) contain 1,2-trans-dichloroethylene (Trans, CAS# 156-60-5), which has caused confusion. The regulations controlling chlorinated solvents do not generally pertain to Trans. The following are the reasons: Many are confused with “chloro” substances due to the NESHAP requirements. The big 3 chlorinated substances are Perchloroethylene (Perc), Trichloroethylene (TCE), and methylene chloride. The association of those with all chlorinated substances is not valid. NESHAP requirements only refer to restrictions of emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAP). Of the nearly 200 substances listed as HAP’s, Trans is not on that list. Reference the following link: https://www.epa.gov/haps/initial-list-hazardous-air-pollutants-modifications. Trans has the same exposure limit (per ACGIH) time-weighted average (TWA) as 2-propanol (IPA) -- 200 ppm. In contrast, n-Propyl Bromide (nPB) is commonly used in vapor degreasers, with TWA established by ACGIH of 10 ppm. It has been proposed to be reduced to 0.1 ppm. nPB is also listed on various carcinogen lists, notably Prop 65.

It may be different state-by-state, so contact your state environmental agency for regional specific regulations. For a general guideline, here is the process according to EPA hazardous waste regulations 40CFR. The can has to be brought to or approach atmospheric pressure to render the can empty. Puncturing is not required, only that it “approach atmospheric pressure”, i.e. empty the can contents until it’s no longer pressurized. This insures that as much contents as is reasonably possible are out of the can. It is then considered “RCRA-empty”. At that point it can be handled as any other waste metal container, generally as scrap metal under the recycling rules. Note that the can is still considered a solid waste at this point (not necessarily hazardous waste).

The red cap on Chemtronics aerosol products like flux removers, degreasers, and Freeze-It Freeze Spray has a notch on the top. That is engineered for the straw to snap in and hold into place so you don’t loose it. The aerosol trigger sprayers that are common on dusters, freeze sprays, and flux removers, have two ways to store the straw when not in use. The hole at the back of the body of the sprayer is just the right size for the straw to slide into place for storage. The slot below the trigger is also the right size for the straw to snap into place, which also has the advantage of locking the trigger.

The shelf life of a product can be found on either the technical data sheet (TDS), available on the product page, or by looking on the certificate on conformance (COC). The COC can be downloaded by going to https://www.chemtronics.com/coc. Once you have the shelf life, you will need to add it to the manufacture date for a use-by date. The manufacture date can be identified by the batch number. The batch code used on most of our products are manufacture dates in the Julian Date format. The format is YYDDD, where YY = year, DDD = day. For example, 19200 translates to the 200th day of 2019, or July 19, 2019. This webpage explains and provides charts to help interpret our batch numbers: https://www.chemtronics.com/batch-codes.

Yes, it is a good idea to use gloves when degreasing. The solvents used in degreasers do a great job at breaking down greases and oils, which also happen to exist in health skin. If your hands are exposed to a degreasing solvent for enough time, oils will be drawn from your skin leading to “defattening”. Your skin will become very dry and you could eventually develop dermatitis, which looks more like a rash. In addition, some solvents like N-Propyl Bromide (nPB), Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Perchloroethylene (Perc) are highly toxic, so can be absorbed through the skin and cause issues like cancer, or impact liver or kidney function. Please wear gloves and other PPE as required.