Tools for Safer Alternatives

A simple solution for solvent cleaning is hard to come by. There are no “Silver Bullets.”

CleanerSolutions is designed with the capability to evaluate the effectiveness of different alternatives to toxic chemicals for a particular application.  CleanerSolutions provides easy access to more than 30 years of testing information, particularly around the effectiveness of alternatives to toxic solvents and hazardous chemicals, especially those used for cleaning and disinfection.  Some of what you will find in CleanerSolutions:

• TURI and third party tested products
• Vendor information in addition to product information
• Cleaning methods
• Comparison
• Testing studies and their results
• Safety evaluations

It provides users with many search methods and parameters.  These methods are separated into two main areas:

• TURI Lab Tested Results:
  Search results based on laboratory testing for specific client situations
• Vendor Supplied Information:
  Lets users search and browse information supplied by vendors
  Vendor information may not have been independently tested by the TURI Lab

The database links performance evaluations to specific testing parameters and environmental assessments performed at the lab.

We utilize process specifics during lab testing, followed up by pilot testing in the field on any potential replacement cleaning chemicals.

If you need more information on a particular product or you are interested in having us help you with testing:

For assistance, please fill out our on-line form, email us or call the TURI Lab at (978)934-3889 or (978)934-3133.

Search CleanerSolutions first to see if any of thousands of trials cataloged bring you closer to a solution.

TURI developed the Pollution Prevention Options Analysis System (P2OASys) tool to help companies and others organize information to compare the environmental, health and safety (EHS) attributes of chemicals, formulated products and production process changes.

P2OASys is for screening purposes and should be considered as one resource in your decision-making process. It is used to:

• Organize chemical hazard information obtained from various sources
• Organize manufacturing process information that can affect occupational health and safety, such as heat and noise
• Compare the EHS attributes of formulated products (using both SDS and chemical ingredient information)
• Help clarify environmental, occupational or public health hazards prior to adopting alternative chemicals, products or processes

Potential hazards of processes are compared in P2OASys using data for eight EHS categories

Each category includes subcategories. For example, Acute Human Effects lists nine subcategories such as Inhalation Toxicity and Eye Irritation

Under each subcategory, you’ll find various endpoint options, for example, a toxicity value from animal studies, a GHS category, or an authoritative body’s designation.

The tool rates each category based on the information entered for each endpoint within the category. For subcategories that have multiple endpoints, the tool chooses the endpoint with the highest hazard score and assigns that score to the subcategory. At the category level, the tool calculates the average of the two highest hazard values from the subcategories. This average becomes the numerical rating for the category. The overall P2OASys product score is an average of each of the eight categories for which there are data.

If there are no data entered for a subcategory or a category, P2OASys drops that subcategory or category from the product score calculation. Therefore, the impact of uncertainty (i.e., having gaps in data) is not reflected in the any of the scores.

While the tool does not require every endpoint, subcategory or category be entered in order to create an assessment, the score will be more meaningful if the user fills in data for as many subcategories as possible. It is important to remember that the absence of data does not mean the absence of hazard. See the Hazard Score Matrix.

The tool assigns scores ranging from 2 to 10 for each hazard endpoint for which information is entered, with a lower score indicating a lower hazard. These numeric values represent an approximate evaluation of relative hazard based on the information used. The values are only meaningful for comparison between alternatives for a specific application, not as a definitive value assigned to a chemical or product.

The quality of the assessments made using P2OASys will vary depending on:

• The information available on ingredients
• The information available on hazards
• The quality of the safety data sheet
• The amount of additional research gathered by the user beyond what is provided in the SDS
• Assumptions about process conditions and life cycle factors
• How individual ingredients in a formulated product are considered

This inherent flexibility in the system underscores the need for a user to carefully evaluate the underlying data used in any previous user evaluations loaded to the database.

When comparing alternatives, the user should look across the alternatives for each endpoint to make sure similar information was available for each data point, or that differences in results make sense. For example, if ingredient information is lacking for one product and detailed information is available for another, you might get very different results for the detailed product when the products are actually quite similar.

P2OASys allows the user to provide greater or lesser emphasis on any of the eight categories depending on application or use priorities. In some situations, regulatory restrictions or customer specifications or a desired TUR focus might warrant giving one category more emphasis in the overall assessment. For example, if a product is used in a facility situated next to a sensitive body of water, the user may want to emphasize the importance of ecological hazards.

In cases like this, a sliding scale can be adjusted to increase the weight assigned to a category from 1 to 10, thereby altering the product/process score from the initial score. This weighted score can be compared with the original score.