TECHNICAL


TECHNICAL WORK OF THE FEDERATION


This brief article summarises the areas of technical involvement of your Fed- eration and points to anticipated future developments which may affect Mem- ber Companies.


The Federation participates actively in the work of British Standards Institu- tion and is represented.in the commit- tees responsible for standardisation of specifications.


Lubricating Oils and Grease-Mike Portlock, Shell Lubricants UK


Analysis and Testing-Frank Thornhill, Century Oils Ltd


Insulating Fluids-Mary Simpson, Cen- tury Oils Ltd


Through B.S.I. and the I.S.O. the Fed- eration is also involved internationally in the development of classification, specification and testing of lubricants and related products. Strong emphasis is being placed upon work connected with CEN (The European body respon-


BASE OILS :


Constitution and carcinogenicity by Mike Day of Shell Lubricants UK


Manager, Product Technology


All crude oils are made up of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, which are normally aromatic, naphthenic or paraffinic in nature, as well as sulphur, oxygen and nitrogen compounds and traces of metals.


Mineral base oils are produced from selected crudes which fall predominantiy into two categories:


a) Naphthenic : where aromatics and naphthenics give the dominant charac- teristic


b) Paraffinic : where paraffins predomi- nate.


These crude types are refined by vari- ous processes starting with atmospheric distillation, the residue from which is further refined by vacuum distillation. The resultant distillates and residues can then be refined by processes which include solvent extraction, dewaxing and hydroprocessing.


From a health hazard point of view, all


crude oils contain PolyCyclic Aromatic compounds or PCA's, some of which (mainly 3 to 7 condensed ring com- pounds with short side-chain substitu- ents) are known to be carcinogenic. In the refining processes these materials occur in heavy fractions (BPt > 300° C) so they can be found in lubricant distil- late and residual streams.


Early mineral oils were generally naph- thenic distillates with relatively simple


sible for standardisation) with the ob- ject of removing any potential technical barriers to trade as 1992 approaches.


The current work of the lubricating oils and greases technical committee in- cludes the following topics :


1. Revision of the British Standard for Refrigeration Compressor Lubricants (BS2626).


2. Straight Mineral Oils (BS4475) and 3. Machine Tool Lubricants (BS5063).


The Federation Representatives will attend the meeting in April ofiSO/TC28/ SC4 dealing with classification and speci- fication of petroleum products. It is ex- pected that a substantial part of the agenda will be devoted to lubricants.


The Federation is also involved with work in ISO on the quench rate testing of heat treatment oils .


Through ourB.L.F. Representative Frank Thornhill, we have close links with the technical committees of UEIL (European Union oflndependent Lubricants Manu- facturers) and ATIEL (Association Technique de L'Industrie Europe en des Lubrifants), including the A TIEL CCMC Committee.


post treatments such as acid refining. Evidence has been accumulated over many years about the health risks asso- ciated with badly refined mineral oils, particularly naphthenics, coupled with poor personal hygiene practices. Se- vere skin disorders such as dermatitis and under certain circumstances skin and scrotal cancer have resulted. Work over the past 20 years in particular, has identified some PCA's as the primary causes of these disorders.


Refining processes such as solvent extraction and/or hydroprocessing not only improve the characteristics and performance of mineral oils, they also reduce the PCA level. Many analytical methods designed to measure aromat- ics in mineral oils , eg., Brandes IR, CA eN Cp, have been used but until the advent of IP 346 no method was spe- cific for the analysis of potentially harm- ful PCA's.


HEALTH, SAFETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT


There are many items of legislation already in place and others being intro- duced which may concern members of the Federation. In addition there are other developments which, although not yet the subject of specific legisla- tion, are of importance to our Members.


Your Council recognises that it may be difficult for member Companies to as- sess the significance of these matters, especially as information arrives from different sources in various forms and the Federation will seek to define and clarify these areas of uncertainty.


You will find enclosed with this edition of 'LUBE' a questionnaire to help your Council identify topics of concern.


risks associated with mineral oils can be obtained from the Refiners and Importers Committee.


N.B. The axes of the Graph are for convenience 2 cycle log/linear. The curve is merely indicative. It has no mathematical significance.


100 60


~ 40 0


~ 5 c til


Legislation in various forms, particu- 0 larly in current legislation :- CPL Regs. ~ (1984), Consumer Protection Act (1987)


cant refining processes, and hence PCA U levels, on health. A clear relationship


has been found to exist between PCA content (measured by IP 346) and the incidence of tumour formation. This work has clearly shown that when the PCA level of a mineral oil is below 3% w (see graph) then skin tumours are un- likely to occur. The majority of oils currently on the market have PCA lev- els below this value.


It is recommended that the IP 346 method be used where appropriate and that a 3%w maximum limit for PCA content be adopted. Further informa- tion on the use of IP 346 and the health


and COSHH (1989) - has led to wide ~ ranging studies on the effects of lubri-


810 = =


= ctS 0 5 10 PCA, %w (IP 346)


RECOMMENDED REFERENCES: 1) IARC Monographs Vo1. 33 (ISBN 92 832 1223 9)


2) Concawe Reports (i) 5/87 : Health Aspects of Lubricants.


(ii) 88/57 : The use of short-term tests to predict the carcinogenicity of mineral oils.


(iii) 7/88 : !ARC 1987 re-evaluation of car- cinogenicity of mineral oils and bitumens.


3) Deutshe Shell Report : Toxicological Aspects of Mineral Oil Base Stocks. (Avail- able from M.J . Day, Shell Lubricants U.K.).


15 z 0


2 •••• .::.•-m-- ---------1 NEGATIVE CONTROL


~20


.~ c


Ql


Cl 0 · c


()


c::; Cii


• •• 4.2% , • Carcinogenic •


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