What's new in chemicals & additives.

NPE promises to be alive with color--much of it heavy-metal-free--as suppliers roll out new pigments and dispersions.

Environmental responsibility was chosen to be the theme of this year's NPE, and additives suppliers appear to have taken it to heart. More than anything else, they will be showing new color concentrates, with many manufacturers emphasizing heavy-metal-free colorants. Other new colorant entries stress low-dusting characteristics to improve the workplace environment. Efforts to address environmental and health concerns will also be evident in some new flame retardants and non-CFC mold releases.

HEAVY METAL IS OUT

As part of its on-going quest to produce extensive lines of lead- and cadmium-free colorants, Reed Plastics Div. of Sandoz Chemical Corp., Holden, Mass., planst to show its new ReedLite series. Initial products in the line--12 cadmium- and lead-free colorants for nylons 6 and 66--were unveiled in February. At NPE, Reed will be showing these concentrates as well as a 10-hue line of heavy-metal-free colorants for polycarbonate.

Also slated to debut a line of heavy-metal-free colors is Accurate Color Inc., Lodi, Ohio. The company says its "complete spectrum" of heavy-metal-free colorants has received USDA and FDA approval, and in some cases can be used in high-temperature applications. In addition, Accurate will show a new line of fluorescent and special-effect colors for rotomolding.

Reed and Accurate, as well as the Polymers Div. of BASF Corp., Parsippany, N.J., and Colormatrix Corp., Cleveland, join a growing number of additive manufacturers stressing new metal-free-colorants. Although not scheduled to show any new heavy-metal-free concentrates at NPE, suppliers who earlier pioneered the technology--such as Ampacet Corp., Tarrytown, N.Y., and USI Div. of Quantum Chemical Corp., Cincinnati--plan to exhibit their existing lines of cadmium- and lead-free concentrates.

Opacity is the theme behind new colorants for PE and PP from Milliken Chemical Co., Spartanburg, S.C., which has previously offered transparent "Clear-Tint" colors. These-heavy-metal-free colorants reportedly do not nucleate and therefore reportedly don't cause shrinkage or warpage in molded parts. Other benefits, Milliken says, include shorter molding cycles and easier purging.

One supplier that has taken a slightly different approach to eliminating heavy metals is Engelhard Corp., Iselin, N.J. Its line of Mindust pigments, introduced late last year, continues to use cadmium to provide bright red, yellow and orange tints, but because of a special surface treatment that lowers their dusting characteristics and levels of cadmium solubility, the colorants reportedly meet the requirements determined by the EPA Toxic Leaching Procedure for hazardous waste. Engelhard will show the latest additions to this line, as well as new teal-blue and bright-green versions of its Meteor Plus mixed-metal-oxide pigments.

OTHER COLORS, TOO

Engelhard's offerings show that not all of the colorant news at NPE will focus on heavy-metal-free products. Plasticolors, Ashtabula, Ohio, is adding to its line of Plastisperse colorants with the introduction of high-pigment-loaded, low-dusting color dispersions for thermoplastic elastomers. These concentrates can be formulated with other additives such as blowing agents and uv stabilizers. Typical pigment and additive loadings range from 75 to 90%. Plasticolors says a single formulation can be used in different TPE hardness grades because the colorants are not melt-index dependent.

Holland Colors Americas Inc., Richmond, Ind., says it will unveil four new lines of pigment pastes--Holcoest pastes for coloring unsaturated polyester, Holcolex aqueous pastes for water-based system, Holcoplast pastes for PVC plastisols and flexible PVC, and Holcopol polyol pastes for polyester and polyether urethane systems. The company will also show its recently introduced Holcomax microfine concentrate with a high pigmentation level and a high degree of dispersion. It reportedly can be used as an alternative to dusty powder pigments in a broad range of engineering plastics.

Ampacet will be debutng three new colorants. Product 110052 is an anatase Ti[O.sub.2]-based bright white for cast and blown film where low abrasion is a necessity. Products 410032 and 40379 are pearlescent colorants for OPP films. A highly dispersed 50% TI[O.sub.2], 410032 gives added opacity to packaging films, while 40379 contains 40% calcium carbonate.

Briefly summing up other new colorants and pigments:

Rickett's Colours Ltd. of England, and Whittaker, Clark & Daniels, South Plainfield, N.J., are jointly introducing Reckitt's new ultramarine pigments that reportedly have FDA approval as colorants for food contact.

Americhem Inc., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, will show its new concentrates for textile fibers.

The Color Div. of Ferro Corp., Cleveland, will introduce new chrome and nickel titanites, high-strength black and iron-free brown pigments for weatherable applications, and a full line of ultramarine pigments.

Calsak Corp., Compton, Calif., will show three recently introduced grades of Garal colorants that can reportedly provide a granite-like appearance in thermoplastics and thermosets.

FLAME RETARDANTS

To a lesser extent, environmental or health concerns are evident in exhibits of flame retardants.

Pyro-Chek Div. of Ferro Corp., Cleveland, says its new Pyro-Chek LM brominated PS polymer contains less than one ppb of polybrominated dibenzodioxins and dibenxofurans, both suspected carcinogens. This newly commercial additive for HIPS (see PT, May '89, p. 47) is a powder containing 66% bromine, whose polymeric nature and compatibility reportedly offer improved flow, colorability and mechanical properties compared with decabromodiphenyl oxide.

And with concerns over toxic fumes from halogenated compounds in a fire, the Specialty Chemicals Group of Hoechst Celanese Corp., Chatham, N.J., will introduce a non-halogenated ammonium polyphosphate-based flame-retardant additive system (see PT, July '88, p. 59).

Dead Sea Bromine of Israel (represented here by AmeriBrom, Inc., N.Y.C.) will show its new F-2000 brominated epoxy additivve for styrenics and engineering plastics. Their relatively high molecular weights, ranging from 800 to 40,000, reportedly provide nonblooming characteristics. They're also said to have uv and thermal stability and good thermal aging. Dead Sea will also show the recently introduced Actimer line of reactive flame-retardant monomers that can reportedly modify commercial resins, alloys and blends to meet high flammability standards while maintaining good physical properties.

Ethyl Corp.'s Chemical Group, Baton Rouge, La., will exhibit its new Saytex 402 brominated flame retardant, an alternative to decabromodiphenyl oxide.

NON-CFC MOLD RELEASES

With the mounting furor over CFCs destroying the planet's zone layer, makers of mold releases have been forced to reformulate their products. The results of many of these changes will be on display at NPE.

Camie-Campbell Inc., St. Louis, will introduce Camie 120 silicone mold release and lubricant, a replacement for CFC-propelled Camie 110. The product uses a hydrocarbon propellant said to give molders the same dry silicone interface as CFC-based releases.

Stoner Inc., Quarryville, Pa., will also introduce non-CFC mold releases that can reportedly be used in injection molding, compression molding and vacuum forming of polycarbonates, polyurethanes, and numerous other thermosets and thermoplastics. The releases are effective on molds with surface temperatures from 40 F to 500 F.

Percy Harms Corp., Wheeling, Ill., will debut a line of non-CFC, all-temperature mold releases in silicone and paintable lecithin versions, both of which have FDA approval. Harms, which will also exhibit several other paintable non-CFC releases, says the products work on both hot and cold molds, imparting a smooth dry film that is biodegradable and nontoxic.

NEWS IN OTHER ADDITIVES

Other additive introductions expected at the show include a few new antistats. Hoechst Celanese will debut what it says are North America's first antistatic additives with FDA approval for use in styrenic and styrenic copolymer food packaging. And from Kenrich Petrochemicals, Inc., Bayonne, N.J., new Ken-Stat KS Q100P is a nonblooming, nonmoisture-dependent, thermally stable antistatic agent based on organometallic chemistry.

In fillers, Sphericel 110P8 is a new 8-micron grade of hollow glass spheres from Potters Industries, Parsippany, N.J., reportedly strong enough to survive extrusion compounding with thermoplastics and subsequent injection molding. Density is 1.1 g/cc.

Three new surface-treated wollastonite RIM reinforcements will be shown by Nyco Minerals Inc., Willsboro, N.Y. Wollastokup 20471 is a special high-aspect-ratio wollastonite for Nyrim material from DSM RIM Nylon, Inc., Troy, Mich. Wollastokup 10013 is for RRIM polyurea or urethane automotive body panels and fascias; and Wollastokup 20595 answers the need for fast wetting and dispersion in polyurea RRIM, Nyco says.

A pelletized version of an endothermic blowing agent made by Boehringer Ingelheim in Germany will be shown by Henley Chemicals Inc., Montvale, N.J. Hydrocerol LC was previously only available in liquid form. The new version reportedly improves cycle times and surface quality, and allows lower dosages to be used than other blowing agents.

Union Carbide Plastic Additives Systems, Danbury, Conn., will take the wraps off its Unistab D Series liquid stabilizers for polyolefins. Carbide has apparently been fine-tuning these products since they were first announced at K'89, during which time no detailed information has been available (PT, Dec. '89, p. 13). These are liquid dispersions of primary or secondary antioxidants, and made-to-order stabilizer packages.