Consumables
Dow Fabric & Surface Care Launches New Line of Biodegradable Surfactants at SDA
Monday 09. February 2009 - Dow Fabric & Surface Care, a Market Facing business of The Dow Chemical Company, introduced a new line of biodegradable specialty surfactants at the Soap and Detergent Associations 83rd Annual Meeting & Industry Convention in Boca Raton, Fla.
ECOSURF EH Specialty Surfactants are biodegradable, designed to improve cleaning performance and provide greater formulation flexibility while also meeting emerging environmental requirements. These new surfactants provide benefits for a wide variety of hard surface cleaning applications, including kitchen cleaners, oven cleaners, bathroom cleaners, and all-purpose and multi-purpose cleaners.
“Brand owners are facing a whole range of challenges – rising expectations for performance and convenience in the marketplace, as well as more stringent environmental and safety regulations,” said Carlos Silva Lopes, global marketing director for Dow Fabric & Surface Care. “ECOSURF EH Specialty Surfactants help our customers meet those challenges without sacrificing the cleaning performance that end users have come to expect. In fact, this biodegradable line has demonstrated improved performance in many applications.”
ECOSURF EH Specialty Surfactants
ECOSURF EH Specialty Surfactants are a new generation of high-performance specialty surfactants that are fast wetting, low foaming and have low odor. This makes rinsing easier and allows for greater fragrance impact. A very narrow gel range makes these surfactants an ideal choice for use in concentrated formulations.
Compared to primary alcohol ethoxylates (PAEs) and nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), ECOSURF EH Specialty Surfactants can provide greater flexibility to meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations. All surfactants in the new line are readily biodegradable per OECD 301F guidelines and have an aquatic toxicity (EC50) of greater than 10 mg/L. They also meet the criteria for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Design for the Environment Surfactant Screen.
ECOSURF EH Specialty Surfactants are available in three product grades:
ECOSURF EH-3 Surfactant – an oil-soluble emulsifier with a low HLB, ideally suited for nonaqueous hard-surface cleaning applications
ECOSURF EH-6 Surfactant – especially effective on greasy kitchen soils
ECOSURF EH-9 Surfactant – ideally suited for higher temperature applications
“Consumers are increasingly focused on having both a clean home and a clean environment, ECOSURF EH Specialty Surfactants provide a means to deliver both,” Lopes added. “This new biodegradable product line is just one example of Dows ongoing commitment to sustainable chemistry, as outlined in our 2015 Sustainability Goals.”