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label for EALs, consisting of seven criteria including biodegradability, aquatic toxicity, bioaccumulation, and restricted substances. The goal is to strengthen environmental awareness and set environmental acceptability as a crucial product quality.
European Ecolabel may serve as a model for other regions of the world. This allows even less developed areas to formulate “green lubricants” that meet European Ecolabel standards without having to spend both time and resources on background researches from the beginning.
Biodegradability refers to the breakdown of a chemical by micro-organisms. There are two types of biodegradation: primary biodegradation involves the loss of active groups in a compound, making it inactive for a specific function. This can convert toxic compounds into less toxic or non-toxic ones. Ultimate biodegradation, also known as mineralization, converts a chemical compound into carbon dioxide, water, and mineral salts.
Bioaccumulation describes the gradual build-up of chemicals in an organism’s tissues; the longer the organism is exposed and survives, the greater the accumulation. The substance may build up in the tissues of the body if it degrades slowly or purifies slowly, which could have significant biological effects. Compounds that don’t bioaccumulate should therefore be used in formulations.
• Biomagnification (accumulation in the food chain and consequentely in the tissue of organism) • Biococetration (accumulation from/in enviroment)
Major schemes for defining environmentally acceptable lubricants (EAL) stipulate a minimum biodegradability level for base fluid and formulated product. However, standard tests and test conditions affect biodegradation levels. The biodegradability of base fluid depends on molecular properties and test method. Fatty acids in lubricants can reduce bioaccumulation.
Aquatic toxicity - Vegetable oil and synthetic ester base oils are less toxic to marine life, with fish having a lower limit of toxicity of around 10,000 ppm. Water-soluble polyacylglycerol esters may increase toxicity by penetrating water columns and sediments due to their solubility, which affects their bioaccumulation capacity.
42 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.179 FEBRUARY 2024
Water-soluble polyacylglycerol esters (PAGs) may show increased toxicity to aquatic organisms due to their solubility. Petroleum and its products cause negative changes in soil properties, including physical, physicochemical, and chemical properties. Land and water management must be more inclusive and adaptive, involving a multi-disciplinary approach to allocate and manage natural resources. Technical solutions to mitigate land degradation and water scarcity are essential, and integrated solutions should be planned at all levels. Technical and managerial innovations can be aimed at addressing priorities and accelerating transformation. adopting new technologies and management approaches. There is now scope for progressive multi-phase project financing that can be linked to redirected subsidies to keep land and water systems live. Environmentally “adapted” is probably the most sensible description, because it is hard to imagine that any lubricating substance would not possess at least some aspects that could be described as “friendly,” “acceptable” or “compatible”. The lubricant industry has produced environmentally adapted lubricants that are readily biodegradable, in terms of one of the several internationally recognised test methods, and that have a low toxic effect on water organisms and human health. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough data about toxic effect in a different type of soils since certain lubricants may form biodegradation by-products that are more toxic than the original, the overall environmental impact including food chain in different ambient.
One of the challenges in meeting requirements and achieving the right shade of green in lubricants is the broad and unclear definition of “green oils.” The generally accepted definition of green oils includes criteria such as biodegradability, use of bio- or renewable resources, low toxicity,
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