Coatings manufacturers understand the importance of employing ‘green’ technology for advanced materials protection. Unfortunately, environmentally responsible preservative programs are sometimes viewed as being less effective than formaldehyde donor biocide chemistries. Meanwhile, the increasing market demand for green products and continuing regulatory pressure to move away from formaldehyde are shrinking the list of approved, efficacious biocide actives. Manufacturers are realizing that the latest green technologies can only help them achieve their performance goals when the biocides are paired with applications expertise from a specialty biocide supplier. The following is one case story featuring a well-established paint producer who achieved advanced green preservation that is both economical and effective.
Strictly speaking, creating environmentally friendly products starts by formulating with greener raw materials. However, green raw materials are much more vulnerable to microbiological attack and often represent significant sources of microbial contamination. The main reasons for this are: reduced resin monomer content, fewer co-solvents, lower overall VOCs, and reduced biocide residuals carrying through from the production process. These factors put more stress on maintaining good plant hygiene, which in turn causes the paint manufacturer to upgrade biocide use practices everywhere in the process, and also influences the degree of monitoring required.