colour feature | Pigments
Clarity on cadmium Heavy metals continue to be a focus of attention for legislators as well as producers of possible alternatives. “Customers have largely stopped requesting pigments containing heavy metals, says Henderson. “We no longer match with heavy metal pigments, we no longer do any work with pigments containing heavy metals.” Even so, some metals still hold onto their place in
Above: International activity is increasing in the pigments business
Clariant group. “That is why the entity will remain a vital part of the group,” he says. Earlier this year, Huntsman Corp said it was “taking
significant action” to improve the global competitive- ness of its pigments and additives business. That action includes a reduction in its workforce by approximately 900 positions.
Huntsman acquired Rockwood’s Performance
Additives and Titanium Dioxide businesses last October. Those businesses include functional additives made from barium and zinc-based inorganics used to make colours more brilliant in plastics and other products. This is essentially the Holliday Pigments ultramarine business, which Rockwood acquired in 2008. Company president and CEO Peter Huntsman says
the restructuring: “Will improve the competitiveness of our global pigments and additives business and allow us to compete more aggressively…We are also taking steps that will lead to a successful future initial public offering of our Pigments and Additives division.” Some of the extra capacity in the global pigments
industry can be put down to increased international activity from producers in Asia. Brenntag Colours says it has partnered with its sister company, Brenntag Global Sourcing Organisation (GSO), to manage and source long-term suppliers of pigments and dyestuffs from across the Asia-Pacific region, particular from China and India. Brenntag says that, with offices in Beijing and Mumbai, GSO is able to audit the production lines and facilitate discussions with multiple suppliers “ensuring quality sourced products for their customers and providing security in the supply chain.” Brenntag Colours also says that it is actively involved
in the technical development of products and consults on the production and technical processes in order to optimally adapt to the requirements of the European market. “The products from the Asia-Pacific region are subject to ongoing audits by the Technical and EHS teams to ensure the products are of consistent quality,” it says.
34 COMPOUNDING WORLD | September 2015
the market and cadmium is a case in point. The International Cadmium Association (ICdA) provided this explanation of the current status of cadmium pigments within the European regulatory scheme. “Cadmium pigments were REACH registered in 2013. After the full technical in-depth assessments required, the products from ICdA members were registered as non-hazardous, partly owing to their extremely low acid-soluble Cd content,” the association says. “In 1991, EU Directive 91/338/EEC imposed restric- tions on the use of cadmium pigments in plastics based on the ‘precautionary principle’ rather than any specific risk assessments. Cadmium pigments may not currently be used in 16 named polymers unless the application is deemed to be a safety application. Notably, the list does allow the use of Cd pigments in all other polymers even for non-safety applications. “EU Directive 91/338/EEC was subsequently replaced by an identical entry (number 23) in Annex XVII of REACH. In 2011 an extension of the restriction in Europe to all plastics was successfully challenged through the European courts and then reversed (Regulation 835/2012). A subsequent follow up study by ECHA has found no further risk which needs to be addressed and on 17th January 2014, the Agency announced that it would not be submitting a proposal to further restrict cadmium and its compounds in plastics,” says ICdA.
Click on the links for more information: ❙
www.nubiola.com ❙
www.shepherdcolor.com ❙
www.dispersions-pigments.basf.com ❙
www.dominioncolour.com ❙
www.toyo-color.com/en ❙
www.carolinacolor.com ❙
www.clariant.com/pigments ❙
www.plasticscolor.com ❙
www.polyone.com ❙
www.colormatrix.com ❙
www.riverdalecolor.com ❙
www.repi.it ❙
www.novosystems.de ❙
www.huntsman.com/pigments ❙
www.brenntag-colours.com ❙
www.cadmium.org ( ICdA)
www.compoundingworld.com
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