Volatile Issues for Metalworking Fluids

The implications of the new Rule 1144 go far beyond the smoggy Los Angeles area, however. According to the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association, which has worked closely with the state, the final rule is likely to be adopted by every U.S. city looking to improve its air quality, and could ultimately be used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a broader effort to regulate VOCs from lubricants.

Rule 1144

Californias South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) approved the first phase of Rule 1144 in March, to take effect Jan. 1, 2010. The rule will apply to companies that sell or use metalworking fluids and/or rust inhibitors in the Los Angeles basin.

Two classes of product will be banned: vanishing films (defined to include any direct-contact lubricant, metalworking fluid or oil) with a flash point below 200 degrees F whose VOC content exceeds 50 grams per liter; and rust inhibitors whose VOC content exceeds 300 g/l.

EPA Reference Method 24 tops the AQMDs list of test methods to determine VOC content, but this is a major industry concern and is expected to be amended. ILMA, based in Alexandria, Va., has advised its members that the ban will apply to any metalworking fluid with a flash point below 200 degrees F, period. This eliminates the use of solvents, kerosene, mineral spirits, etc., in metalworking fluids.

The rule includes a sell-through period from Jan. 1 through June 30, during which banned products manufactured before Jan. 1 can still be sold and used. But from July 1, 2010, any use or sale of banned products in the district could result in fines of up to $25,000 a day..

Every container of metalworking fluid and rust inhibitor covered by the rule must be marked with the date of manufacture, and if a code is used, AQMD must receive the key to the code in writing before Jan. 1. Finally, all distributors must be notified in writing about the Rule 1144 compliance status of products; failure to do so leaves the supplier liable for any illegal sale into the Los Angeles basin.

ILMA and its members anticipate a revised second phase of the rule to be finalized in mid-2010, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2012. The trade group has labored mightily, in cooperation with AQMD, to try to assure that the resulting regulations are reasonable. And the associations members agree that, while AQMD and ILMA have had disagreements on technical matters, their work together on Rule 1144 has been a professional and fruitful collaboration.

A Testing Tempest

The critical issue is identifying a test method to measure VOC content in metalworking fluids and, potentially, other lubricants. When AQMD originally proposed Rule 1144 in 2008, it recommended a test method that Mike Pearce of W.S. Dodge Oil Co. in Maywood, Calif., called a real train wreck, with no repeatability. And the EPA Method 24 test that is currently referenced in the rule, said Pearce, is wildly inaccurate when used for metalworking fluids.

Weve exceeded the limits of scientific knowledge, Pearce told LubesnGreases. These oils are semivolatiles, and work has never been done on these fluids. We dont know how volatile they are. Do they form smog, or do they precipitate out and return to liquid? Were writing the science.

In Nov. 2008, Dodge Oil began a six-month evaporation study on common naphthenic base oils; AQMD, said Pearce, has accepted the results of that study as the gold standard.

Pearce said his study found that pale oil 100, the most commonly used base oil in metalworking fluids, had a VOC content of 75 g/l. Pale 60, used in aluminum machining fluids because of its low viscosity, had 120 g/l. Pale 40, which is more like a solvent, Pearce said, had VOC content of 700 g/l.

As a result, said Pearce, ILMA has conceded pale 40. Its use in the district will be prohibited under Rule 1144. ILMA is fighting for pale 60 and believes that pale 100 will not pose problems.

With the evaporation study results in hand, ILMA proposed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), a simple, reliable, ASTM-validated method that measures mass loss as temperature changes. John K. Howell of Primagy Consultants in Warrenville, Ill., heads the ILMA task force overseeing a round-robin test of this method that began last month.

EPA 24 overestimates VOCs, Howell said. The goal of this round-robin testing will be an ASTM-validated test method, E-1868-09 specifically applicable to metalworking fluids and lubricants.

A total of 10 laboratories have volunteered to participate: AQMD itself; Dover Chemical; Herguth Laboratories; Houghton International; Lubrizol; Milacron LLC; Natural Resources Canadas Explosives Research Lab; Quaker Chemical; TA Instruments (which makes TGA analyzers); and the University of Delawares Center for Composite Materials.

It takes a week of lab time, said Howell. We hope to have results by year end. AQMD has agreed with ILMA to certain reliability criteria, and the likely result is that the TGA [round-robin test] results will meet these criteria.

Were optimistic to get a pass on the first round of round-robin testing, noted Pearce.

The View from Diamond Bar

AQMD, headquartered in Diamond Bar, Calif., east of Los Angeles, has worked closely with ILMA and other concerned industries about the rule, Planning and Rules Manager Naveen Berry told LubesnGreases. Like ILMA, the agency looks forward to resolving the question of validated test methods. But unlike ILMA, it anticipates validation of its original Method 313-L based on GC/FID (gas chromatography/flame ionization detector) to which ILMA objected strenuously.

Yes, AQMD will incorporate an ASTM-validated TGA test in the rule, Berry said, but it may not work for all metalworking fluids, such as those with high water content. We want to be sure theres a test method for all fluids, so were also doing round-robin testing of 313-L, our original test method.

Berry said the TGA method proposed by ILMA and its Method 313-L are undergoing round-robin testing in parallel, and he expects the results from both sets of tests by year end. This, he suggested, will allow AQMD to expeditiously wrap up its rule-making for metalworking fluids and other direct-contact lubricants.

Asked about enforcement of Rule 1144, Berry noted that AQMD has 120 to 130 inspectors in the field who can sample products and review labels for compliance. Because the Los Angeles basin includes a large number of small machine shops that will be covered by the rule, the greater burden falls on manufacturers of fluids, Berry said. The prohibition on sale as well as on use is targeted at the manufacturers and distributors, he emphasized.

Under Californias health and safety code, penalties for noncompliance can run as high as $25,000 per day, and even higher if toxic or carcinogenic materials are involved. But, noted Berry, the size of the business is important, and many factors are considered in enforcement actions.

Whats Next

If the TGA round-robin testing results in an ASTM standard method that is understandable, reproducible and reliable, which its proponents expect, ILMA will strongly urge AQMD to adopt it as the primary test method for measuring VOCs in metalworking fluids and rust inhibitors.

The final Rule 1144, ILMA expects, will regulate both metalworking fluids and rust inhibitors by VOC content alone, without reference to flashpoint. Its probable, Mike Pearce said, that the final rule will require labeling of all regulated products with VOC content as well as date of manufacture.

Still to be determined is which base oils may be allowed or disallowed, based on VOC limits, Pearce noted. Record-keeping and reporting requirements are under negotiation between regulators and industry. In all, said Pearce, there are mass quantities of pesky details yet to be resolved before AQMD submits a proposed final rule for approval as early as next May.

Big Picture

Regulations like Rule 1144 are likely to spread across the country, said John Howell, noting that industry participants are pleased at the high level of cooperation between AQMD and ILMA. Its an exemplary case of coming together for the common good.

Metalworking fluids and lubricants have been in a grey area with respect to air emissions, said John Burke of Houghton International of Valley Forge, Pa. Now, in California, ILMA and AQMD are creating a test method to satisfy the immediate needs for Rule 1144. If the [TGA] test method now going through ASTM validation is approved, any [regulatory] agency can see its designed for lubricants, metalworking fluids and rust preventives. Local agencies may see air emissions where they didnt see them before. Now that we can quantify the VOCs, they can be regulated.

Every air control agency is looking for sources of pollution to control, agreed Mike Pearce. And if we can comply in Los Angeles, we can comply anywhere. Within five years, Rule 1144 will be nationwide.

Rule 1144 can be downloaded at www.aqmd.gov/rules/reg/reg11/r1144.pdf. Section (i) of the rule spells out a number of exemptions and exceptions.

To provide AQMD with a date-code key, or for more information on the rule, the key AQMD staff contact is Mike Morris, mmorris@aqmd.gov, phone 909-396-3282.