Pigments | colour & masterbatch
Stefan Wannemacher and Philippe Lazerme of Clariant report on progress in removing halogens and lead chromate from pigments for plastics
out of pigment production
Pigment producers have a strong eye on the environ- ment. Colour, of course, brightens up all our surround- ings. But it is equally true that the production and use of some pigments might have undesirable effects on the environment. Historically, some pigments used in plastics have contained heavy metals that today are either banned or strictly regulated. Some other pigments make use of halogens, which have been under scrutiny for some time by some end users in the fi elds of consumer goods and food packaging. In recent years, pigment producers have put considerable effort into addressing these concerns. In this article, we provide an overview of the current state of play.
Reducing halogens Restrictions on the use of halogens in thermoplastics are widespread. They take the form of specifi cations from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in various markets, most notably electronics, and also in regulations such as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS). IPC, the Association Connecting Electronics
Industries, has a materials specifi cation for circuit boards that includes a recommendation on halogen content, while the IEC, the International Electrotechni- cal Commission, has its own standard (IEC 61249-2-21) describing halogen-free materials. Today, no company operating in the electronics
industry will accept materials containing more than 900
www.injectionworld.com April 2015 | INJECTION WORLD 33
parts per million (ppm) of any single halogen (the two most commonly used being chlorine and bromine), and no more than 1,500 ppm of all halogens put together. And of course the trend is downwards, with some OEMs having already set targets of under 500 ppm. These restrictions have had an important effect in
the area of fl ame retardants, which for many years were largely reliant on the use of halogens. In recent years, numerous key fl ame retardant manufacturers – Clariant among them – have developed and brought to market new families of halogen-free fl ame retardants that have properties on a par with those of classical halogenated types.
With the use of halogen-free fl ame retardants now
reasonably well established, the spotlight has more recently been turned to other areas where it is possible to reduce, if not completely eliminate, the use of
The electrical and electronics industry has
taken the lead in pushing for reduced
halogens in pigments
Taking halogens and heavy metals
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64