Eastman EB Solvent May Soon Be Making Life Easier For Formulators

12-Nov-2003

Formulators may soon once again be able to design coatings with Eastman EB Solvent. The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Nov. 4, that it would shortly be publishing in the Federal Register its proposal to delist ethylene glycol butyl ethers such as Eastman EB Solvent, from the Clean Air Act Amendments' list of Hazardous Air Pollutants.

"We are ecstatic that EPA is moving to delist EGBE from the HAPs list," said Tom Newsom, solvents business products manager. "Because alternatives are generally more costly, and typically offer less performance efficiency, I believe that once off the HAPs list Eastman EB Solvent will again be the ethylene glycol ether of choice for formulators."

Prior to the EPA's listing of EGBE as a HAP in 1990, Eastman EB Solvent was a standard component in many formulations. The solvent provides formulators with better coupling efficiency that many alternatives. Used in a wide variety of applications, Eastman EB Solvent is particularly popular in cleaning applications, architectural, OEM and wood coatings markets.

The American Chemistry Council's Ethylene Glycol Ethers Panel filed a petition with the EPA in 1997 showing why the available evidence indicated that EGBE should be delisted. Eastman's Senior Technical Associate Robert Avery served as a member of the panel.

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