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Solvents do the heavy lifting in so many industries. But some solvents have a history of negative impacts on the Earth and its people. H.B. Fuller recognized this 20 years ago and made a long-term commitment to use non-chlorinated solvents. It’s a commitment that has been bearing innovative fruit for over 20 years.
Where Do We Find Solvents?
From mining to manufacturing to electronics to agriculture to pharmaceuticals, wherever there is a need to dissolve, clean, extract, or carry, solvents show up. Some solvents are better than others. And some solvents are better for our planet than others.
Chlorinated solvents are effective, but they are not environmentally neutral. They contain chemicals that hang around for a long time and cause negative consequences. Recent rulings have once again shone a spotlight on chlorinated solvents by giving teeth to older bans. In December of 2024, the Biden-Harris administration banned several chemicals commonly used in today’s chlorinated solvents. Trichloroethane (TCE) would be phased out, and perchloroethylene (PCE) would be banned from all consumer uses and many commercial uses.
H.B. Fuller made an early commitment to sustainable solvents. Since 2006, the company has not used chlorinated solvents in the Cilbond product line. Nor has it used lead in manufacturing—another chemical banned around the same time. That 20+ year commitment to sustainable ingredients opened new paths to developing earth-friendly solvents.
What Do Solvents Do?
“Solvents are the carriers for adhesives, primers and coatings,” said Dennis Joseph, R&D manager with H.B. Fuller. “The chemical formulations of adhesives contain rubber, carbon black, silica, titanium dioxide, and other elements. These elements are ground to a certain size and dispersed into the solvent.” (Figure 1)
Those solvents deliver the adhesives to the precisely right spot for bonding or coating, then evaporate or are absorbed into the substrate.
Figure 1. Solvents carry adhesive chemistries.
In the world of adhesives, primers, and coatings, solvents are critical for delivering adhesives to the intended location. Solvents make possible spraying, dipping, brushing, and rolling—all the ways people and industries move adhesives around to do the work of binding.
Chlorinated solvents have been proven workhorses for metal cleaning, degreasing, precision cleaning, and aerosol cleaning products for years. They are also adept carriers for certain adhesive chemistries, like neoprene (polychloroprene) contact cements, rubber-based adhesives, and some acrylics.
But chlorinated solvents damage our environment in significant ways:
- Chlorinated solvents sink. They are denser than water, so they don’t float (compared to, say, a petroleum spill that remains on top of the water). In particular, PCE, TCE, and methylene chloride sink through groundwater and accumulate on lower-permeability surfaces deep within an aquifer. Remediation is difficult and expensive, and the results aren’t great.
- Chlorinated solvents persist. PCE, TCE, and methylene chloride take up residence at the bottom of an aquifer and dissolve over decades into the groundwater passing over them (Figure 2).
- Chlorinated solvents degrade into even more dangerous chemicals. Over time, PCE becomes TCE, which becomes dichloroethylene (DCE), which then turns into vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen (Group 1, IARC). This can take years and remain toxic for decades and longer.
Figure 2. PCE, TCE, and methylene chloride persist in aquifers for a very long time.
We have laws on the books to protect the environment from these problems, but those laws have not been well enforced.
How Do Our Laws Protect Us?
First from Lead
The Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 called for an industry-wide voluntary slowdown in the use of lead in paint manufacturing. By 1978, lead in residential paint was banned. Removing lead took several more years but never included an outright ban. In the EU, the removal of lead from adhesives was driven by the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive (2002/95/EC), which banned lead in electrical and electronic equipment, and the End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive (2000/53/EC), which targeted lead in vehicles.
Then from Chlorinated Solvents, But Over Time
The pattern of enforcement for chlorinated solvents is less straightforward. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 placed chlorinated solvents under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but enforcement was limited. In 2016, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act was signed into law, which amended the original TSCA.
These laws, acts, and standards restricted the long-standing use of effective chemicals that were destructive to our environment. As with any new or proposed set of laws, there was predictable outcry from vested industries. But the market responded with innovation and new directions that were better than workarounds.
How Does Innovation Fuel Long-Term Commitment to Sustainability?
H.B. Fuller’s decades-long commitment to sustainability was reinforced in the early 2000s, when the firm went all-in on voluntarily complying with the toxic substances law. Today, nearly 60% of H.B. Fuller’s new product development projects are focused on increasing the sustainability of customer-end products.
As a global company, H.B. Fuller manufactures products with human health and safety in mind, as well as environmental impacts. Regulations from around the world helped influence the company to choose to be lead-free and chlorinated-solvent-free. Future sustainability goals include expanding our water-based product portfolio.
The Cilbond product line from H.B. Fuller has been proudly free of lead and chlorinated solvents for nearly 20 years. The product line is a sustainable example of the kind of innovation that came from voluntarily choosing not to use chlorinated solvents decades earlier. Cilbond products include:
- One-coat applications: Cilbond 24
- Polyurethane: Cilbond 49SF
- Friction bonding: Cilbond 62W
- Top coat (used with a primer): Cilbond 80ET and 89ET
Cilbond primers and adhesives were designed to bond a wide range of elastomers, such as EPDM, Natural Rubber, SBR, and others. Cilbond offers peace of mind that your bonding solution is compliant with new EPA regulations—and is effective in even your toughest applications. Using a product like Cilbond 24 introduced process efficiencies, such as moving from a two-coat solution to a one-coat solution.
For more information about using non-chlorinated, sustainable adhesives, coatings, and primers to improve efficiency, visit CILBOND™ | H.B. Fuller to learn more and connect with one of our technical experts.
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