DuPont Textiles & Interiors' Specialty Intermediates Introduces New, Low Vapor Pressure Alternative for Consumer Products

DuPont Textiles & Interiors' (DTI) Specialty Intermediates is introducing a new dibasic ester (DBE) offering for consumer product applications in the United States. This new product, called DBE-LVP, has been tailored to meet both California's low vapor pressure - volatile organic compound (LVP-VOC) criteria and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) VOC exemption for consumer and institutional products. Both regulations limit the amount of volatile organic compounds in products used in maintaining and operating homes and other establishments, as well as certain personal care products.

Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania have recently adopted their own new regulations for consumer products, which are very similar to those implemented by California in 1991 and amended in 1996. These new rules will take effect on January 1, 2005. Other states are actively considering similar regulations.

Approximately 80 product categories are covered by California's regulation, while more than 40 categories are covered by the EPA regulation. They include bath and tile cleaners, carpet and upholstery cleaners, nail polish removers, heavy-duty hand cleaners and soaps, and spot removers. In California, products meeting the LVP-VOC criteria are not considered when calculating the VOC content of regulated consumer product categories. DBE products are widely used in many of the affected applications.

"Formulators who use DBE-LVP will be able to continue serving their customers without worrying about this ingredient impacting total VOC content," said Keith Watson, DBE product manager. "We expect other states to adopt these tighter VOC measures and that is why we are providing the DBE solution at this time."

Along with DBE-LVP, another offering in the DBE family, DBE-IB is also expected to play a more significant role in consumer products due to the industry's movement to water-based formulations. DBE-IB is the isobutyl esters of adipic, glutaric, and succinic acids, and offers greater hydrolytic stability compared to dimethyl esters. DBE-IB also has very low odor, an important feature for many consumer product formulators.

The DBE product portfolio includes DBE dibasic esters, a family of low toxicity, environmentally friendly fluids as well as DBA dibasic acids. They are key ingredients for a diverse array of applications including industrial cleaners, coatings, foundry cores, plasticizers, flue-gas desulfurization, and various chemical intermediates.

Additional information on these products, including DBE-LVP, can be obtained by visiting the recently redesigned DBE web site at http://www.dbe.dupont.com.

DuPont Textiles & Interiors Specialty Intermediates has been a committed supplier of polymer chemicals and intermediates for more than 60 years. In addition to the DBE portfolio the business contains two other product lines: Dytek® Idea Intermediates with a range of amine, nitrile, and boron products; and C12 Intermediates which includes a family of 12-carbon cyclic and linear compounds and Corfree® M1 corrosion inhibitor.

Click here to download a datasheet for DuPont's DBE-LVP.