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The Unique Environmental Benefits of ECOgent The development of ECOgent was founded on the principal of reducing the life cycle of detergent (surfactants) in the environment. Many cleaning products claim biodegradability--even ready biodegradability in the environment. Why is there a need to reduce the life cycle if the current cleaning products already rapidly biodegrade? In a review of detergents (surfactants) in the inland waters the following conclusions were reached:
Many cleaners claim ready biodegradability based on ingredient based testing. The review of detergents (surfactants) in the inland waters identified the most common surfactant used LAS (linear alkyl benzene sulfonates) as being present in significant amounts even though LAS is readily biodegradable. Many surfactants used in the most common household and commercial cleaners are not normally tested for effluent discharge by municipal waste treatment plants even though they represent a significant percentage of surfactants entering waste treatment plants. Little evidence has been produced by surfactant manufactures of anaerobic degradation (microbial degradation in the absence of oxygen). This is important in solid waste remediation, river and lake sediment and septic systems. That which is readily biodegradable under aerobic conditions may not significantly degrade under anaerobic conditions. ECOgent Properties ECOgent's environmental claims have been independently verified and certified by Environment Canada's Environmental Choice Program. ECOgent has proven to rapidly degrade by whole formulation based testing. Whole formulation based testing confirms rapid biodegradability as opposed to making assumptions that a product rapidly biodegrades because of individual ingredients selected. OECD 301 D Ready Biodegradability ECOgent concentrate degrades 100% in 28 days. The current standard for considering a product readily degradable is 60% degradation in 28 days. ECOgent has proven to degrade under anaerobic conditions (in the absence of oxygen) by whole formulation based testing. ECOgent concentrate degrades 84.5% in 6 days as tested by ASTM test method 1196-92. The standard requires 60% degradation in 56 days. Municipal waste treatment plants receive up to 20mg/l of detergent residues in the influent and the discharge effluent is limited normally to .5 mg/l of anionic surfactants. ECOgent was tested by whole formulation based testing for aquatic toxicity at levels 5 times the normal amount found in waters entering waste treatment plants. Aquatic Toxicity OECD202 PI Ceriodaphnia dubia Acute Static 48 hrs LC 50 100 mg/l, LC O 100 mg/l and the No Observed Effect when concentration is greater than 100mg/l. In addition to the whole formulation test that confirms rapid biodegration under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, ECOgent is not likely to be hazardous to aquatic life at levels likely to enter the environment. ECOgent is also non-toxic to aerobic and anaerobic bacteria at levels entering waste treatment plants and septic systems. We conclude that ECOgent degrades very rapidly by whole formulation based testing under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions and is not toxic to aquatic life at levels likely to enter the environment, a standard we encourage all corporations to adopt. Review ECOgent's Unique Cleaning
Feature Benefits for We have done research combining
ECOgent with other cleaning components: Check out ECOgent's Unique Health and Safety Benefits RETURN TO PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS PAGE Read and respond
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