Dow customers now have another reason to select Dow’s new biodegradable surfactants for their cleaning formulations. A new surfactant product line from The Dow Chemical Company, ECOSURF™ EH specialty surfactants, has been successfully accepted and is now listed on the CleanGredients Database as meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for Environment (DfE) screening criteria.
CleanGredients is a tool for identification of cleaning formulation ingredients with optimal performance and environmental characteristics and was developed by the DfE program in partnership with the GreenBlue Institute. The three surfactants – ECOSURF™ EH 3, ECOSURF™ EH 6 and ECOSURF™ EH 9 – are a new generation of high performance, readily biodegradable specialty surfactants designed for hard surface cleaning, textile processing, and wetting of both hard and soft surfaces.
According to its web site, DfE:
“is a voluntary U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program that partners with the industry to develop cleaner, safer technologies.” ECOSURF™ EH from Dow is currently listed on the CleanGredients website, www.cleangredients.org.
The term “surfactant” is verbal shorthand for “surface active agent”. Surfactants are used in a variety of applications including fabric cleaners, surface cleaners, and other detergent formulations.
ECOSURF™ EH surfactants were only introduced in early 2009, with the CleanGredients acceptance achieved in under six months time. “This is a great honor for the people here at Dow who work on providing effective products with a better environmental profile,” said Caio Sedeno, Global Product Director, Dow Polyglycols and Surfactants. “We are also happy to offer our customers and other stakeholders innovative solutions based on their needs.”
How ECOSURF™ EH Qualifies ECOSURF™ EH surfactants have an excellent environmental profile. All three grades are readily biodegradable and have low aquatic toxicity. ECOSURF™ EH surfactants are part of an expanding line of specialty surfactants designed to help formulators meet rising expectations for performance while satisfying rigorous environmental needs.