Nonyl phenol ethoxylates: Environmental regulations in US and Canada

[Season_Tse@xxxxxxxxx]

I have been searching for clear US and Canadian environmental safety regulations
regarding the use and disposal of  alkylphenol ethoxylate surfactants - APE (eg.
Synperonic N - nonylphenol ethoxylate) for some time now.  I recently received
this reply from Hank Cox of Alkylphenol ethoxylate Research Council (APERC).  I
thought you would be interested in knowing about this.

16 European countries started phasing out the use of this group of surfactants
since 1995 due to concerns of biodegradibility among other things.  As a result,
companies have stop manufacturing Synperonic N, a surfactant of choice in many
conservation labs, especially in the UK.   APE are still found in many
commercial cleaning products and these products are still being used world wide,
much less so in EU countries where the environmental regulations are much more
stringent.  It is clear that there are a lot of pressure to keep it on the
market, especially in North America, despite environmental concerns.

Please note that the APERC represents companies who manufactures and sells APE ,
and is an advocate for their safety and use.

Season

Season Tse
Conservation Scientist/Chemist
Conservation Processes and Materials Research
Canadian Conservation Institute
Dept. of Canadian Heritage
1030 Innes Rd.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0M5
Tel. (613) 998-3721 (x-187)
Fax. (613) 998-4721
email:    season_tse@xxxxxxxxx

Visit the CCI Web site at http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/



 Hank Cox <hankc@xxxxxxxxxx on 02/28/2001 03:06:35 PM

 To:   Season Tse/HullOttawa/PCH/CA@PCH
 cc:
 Subject:  Surfactants

   There are no federal regulations regarding use of nonylphenol (NP) or
 nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) in the U.S. or Canada at the present
 time. However, Environment Canada is expected to declare NP/NPEs to be
 "toxic"under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act soon. That will
 begin a two year period in which Environment Canada works with industry to
develop a
 management plan to curtail discharges of these chemicals, and than
 another 18 months to finalize the plan. We anticipate that use of NP/NPE
 will continue indefinitely.

Please note also that we have compiled extensive scientific
research on nonylphenol, nonylphenol ethoxylates and other members of the
alkylphnols family. The science confirms that these chemicals are biodegradable,
do
not persist in the environment and are almost totally removed from the waste
stream
by properly functioning sewage treatment plants. You can find this and a lot
more
at our web site at www.aperc.org.