Number

252-EN

Section

General Section

Use

Abstract

Chlorinated paraffins are used in considerable amounts as high-pressure additives in metal working lubricants. They are considered risky in terms of health and the environment. The example is a summary of a project aimed at mapping existing alternative non-chlorinated lubricants for demanding non-cutting metal working tasks, testing the lubricating properties of selected lubricants, and evaluating the health-related and environmental properties of the lubricants.

Substituted substances

Reason substitution

ED

Hazard Assessment

Substance to be substituted: Chlorinated paraffins have no harmonised classification according to Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (CLP Regulation). But this substance is a PBT/vPvB according to OSPAR - section B, an endocrine disruptor (SIN List), as listed in the Substance Database according to SUBSPORTplus Screening Criteria (SDSC). Alternative substance: Non-chlorinated lubricants, but the ingredients are not known.

Description of Substitution

The following text is an excerpt from the report: Mapping and development of alternatives to chlorinated lubricants in the metal industry (KLORPARAFRI), Environmental Project no. 1039, The Danish Environmental Protection Agency, 2005. In the past decade, a number of projects have been carried out in the Danish metal industry aiming at finding alternatives to chlorinated lubricants for metal working. Thus, there has been a substantial reduction in the use of chlorinated lubricants by Danish large-scale users in the metal industry. Chlorinated lubricants for cutting operations as milling, screw-cutting and drilling have been completely substituted. However, for non-cutting operations, particularly demanding processes such as forming in stainless steel and titanium, chlorinated lubricants are still widely used. This is due to a lack of technically satisfying alternatives according to the report. At the same time, the need for lubricants to be used under very demanding production conditions is increasing due to demands for material and energy saving, increased productivity and improved quality. The specific objectives of the project were to map existing non-chlorinated lubricant alternatives for heavy-duty metal forming, to technically test the lubricating performance of selected lubricant alternatives, to assess the health and environmental properties of alternative lubricants and, if possible, to develop promising lubricant alternatives for production. The overall conclusion of the project is that further development of non-chlorinated lubricants for heavy-duty metal forming remains in order to obtain technically satisfying alternatives while simultaneously improving the health and environmental properties. Approximately 50 lubricant systems have been proposed from contacted international lubricant suppliers as alternatives to the specified metal forming operations. Three types of lubricant systems have been mapped: traditional oil-based wet lubricants with extreme pressure components added, so-called dry lubricants and a system which requires two lubricant layers on the metal surface(a carrier layer and a lubricating layer). The lubricating qualities of 19 of the proposed non-chlorinated lubricants have been tested in simulating and process technical tests developed at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Four of the lubricants exhibited promising lubricating properties in these tests and were further tested in a full scale production test at Danfoss A/S. None of the four tested alternative lubricants exhibited sufficient lubricant performance. The project concluded that substitution of chlorinated paraffins in lubricants for metal forming requires a complete reformulation. The chlorinated paraffins cannot be substituted by a substance to substance substitution. The Danish company Danfoss has developed an Extreme Pressure Lubricant System (EPL) for cold forging of stainless steel. It is a two-layer lubricant system. This system has previously shown very good technical results, but the need for this special production in this company is small. For financial reasons the EPL system has not been implemented. None of the four full-scale tested alternative lubricants exhibited sufficient lubricant performance. A combined health and environmental screening for non-chlorinated lubricants has been performed for 14 of the 19 lubricants tested in the simulating and process technical tests. The report contains tables with chemical names and CAS numbers for the screened substances contained in the 14 products in the following substance groups: mineral base oils, calcium sulphonates, alkyl sulphides, vegetable and animal oils, phosphorous compounds, sulphurised fatty compounds, synthetic ester oils, soaps and medium-chained chlorinated paraffins. As a substitution of chlorinated paraffins in lubricants normally implies a complete reformulation of the lubricant, it was estimated in this project that the most suitable frame of reference for comparison of the health and environmental properties of chlorinated and non-chlorinated lubricants respectively, is comparison of total lubricants. Thus, the health and environmental assessments of lubricant components has included all the components- not only components with a primary function as extreme pressure additives but also components with other functions as lubrication-enhancing additives. SUBSPORTplus refers to the report (see link below) for the results of this screening for the specific substances. The result of the health and environmental assessment of non-chlorinated lubricants indicates that especially the extreme pressure additives alkyl sulphides (polysulphides) and phosphorous compounds include substances which may cause adverse health and environmental effects. The result also demonstrates that substitution of chlorinated lubricants for heavy-duty metal working implies a movement from a reasonable data platform regarding potential health and environmental effects to a substantially poorer data platform. The result of the screening, based on the sparse available data, is that non-chlorinated lubricants seem to be better than chlorinated lubricants with regard to health and environmental properties. However, some of the lubricants suggested contain components exhibiting a sensitizing potential. In addition, many of the lubricants contain substances with an environmental hazard potential at the same level as chlorinated paraffins. However, the substances are present in the lubricants at substantially lower concentrations than chlorinated paraffins in the chlorinated lubricants.

Case/substitution evaluation

Non-chlorinated lubricants seem to be better than chlorinated lubricants with regard to health and environmental properties. But the report indicates that some health hazards remain and should be eliminated through further research.

State of implementation

Pilot study

Availability ofAlternative

Most alternatives are on the market.

Type of information supplier

Authority

Contact

Miljøstyrelsen / Danish Environmental Protection Agency Strandgade 29 1401 København K mst@mst.dk www.mst.dk

Type of publication and availability

Report Environmental Project no. 1039, Mapping and development of alternatives to chlorinated lubricants in the metal industry (KLORPARAFRI),The Danish Environmental Protection Agency, 2005. Free access - on-line or pdf.

Publication source

Type of publication and availability

http://www2.mst.dk/udgiv/publications/2005/87-7614-807-6/html/default_eng.htm

Date, reviewed

November 26, 2021