SOLVENT USERS LOOK TO REPLACE NMP
Marc S. Reisch · Chemical & Engineering News · 2008
ONCE TOUTED as benign, the solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) is under scrutiny because of concerns over its potential health effects. Although manufacturers say NMP is safe to use when handled properly, these health concerns have opened opportunities for alternative solvents and processes that make do without NMP. Paint makers and other solvent users regarded NMP as something of a wonder chemical during the 1980s and ’90s, when they used it to create environmentally friendly polyurethane coatings, paint strippers, and agricultural chemical formulations. But NMP has increasingly attracted attention as environmental regulators, first in California and more recently in the European Union, have sought to exercise control over the solvent in markets where it poses an inhalation hazard. The impact on one group of users was evident at last month’s American Coatings Show in Charlotte, N.C., where polyurethane material suppliers were offering customers alternatives to NMP-containing coatings. “NMP is a great solvent for waterborne polyurethanes,” says Peter ...