What can honestly and accurately be said about water-based inks, shop safety, and the environment?
Water-based inks can be cleaned up with water. most screen printers use mineral spirits or something similar for cleaning up plastisol inks.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Right to Know (RTK) regulations apply to water-base inks just as much as to any other kind of ink.
You must have Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS Sheets) on all the water- based inks and ink additives in your plant.
You must make sure your employees read and understand the MSDS Sheets.
You must train your employees to handle, store, and clean up water-base inks safely and make sure that they do so.
Some water-base inks contain volatile organic compounds (VOC's), chemicals that evaporate as the ink dries and, unless you have an excellent ventilation system, get mixed into the air everyone in the plant breathes.
Until recently, some water-base inks or ink additives contained chemicals that were suspected or known to be human carcinogens; that is, they could cause cancer in people exposed to them. Review the MSDS sheets on the inks in your plant carefully to determine if this is the case with any of the inks you use.
Do not assume that you can dispose of water-based inks, or waste water used to clean waterbased inks off screens and squeegees by dumping it down the drain. Only your local waste water treatment facility can determine if the ink you are using can be disposed of in this manner, and if they do permit it, they will certainly put limits on how much you can dump down the drain.
If your waste water is not processed by a wastewater treatment plant (if you have a private septic system) you should consult with the nearest health department before you start dumping your waste ink and wash water down the drain.
I am unaware of any research or scientific reports that indicate that the chemicals used in water- based inks are safer to manufacture, use, or dispose of than the chemicals used in plastisol inks, assuming that in both cases the chemicals are processed in accordance with applicable health, safety and environmental protection regulations.
On the other hand, water- based inks, like all other kinds of screen printing inks may be hazardous to your health and damaging to the environment if handled illegally or carelessly.
1.FACT: IT IS NOT OK TO THROW YOUR WATER BASED WASHINGS DOWN THE DRAIN. SAME GOES FOR PLASTISOL WASHINGS, WITH OR WITHOUT BEANY-DOO.
2.MYTH: PVC INKS ARE MORE HAZARDOUS THAN WATER BASED INKS.
3.FACT: PHTHALATE PLASTICIZERS HAVE SOME HEALTH CONCERNS. 99.9% ARE OF THE ORTHOPHTHALATE VARIETY.
4.MYTH: DISCHARGE PRINTING CAN BE DONE SAFELY.
5.FACT: CURING PLASTISOL INK FOR 30 SECONDS OR LESS IS RISKY AT BEST.
6.MYTH: WATER BASE INKS WILL AIR DRY IN YOUR KITCHEN (OR GARAGE) AND BE JUST AS WASH RESISTANT AS WHEN HEAT CURED.
7.FACT: A FLASH CURE UNIT IS FAR FROM IDEAL AS THE ONLY HEAT CURE SOURCE FOR YOUR INK CURING. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE LOOK FOR A TUNNEL DRYER.
8.MYTH: I DON’T NEED GLOVES OR SAFETY EQUIPMENT AROUND WATER BASE INKS.
9.FACT: PVC (VINYL) IS AS SAFE AS ANY OTHER PLASTIC IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD OR OFFICE OR CAR. BUT NOTE THIS:- SOME FORMULAS ARE SAFER THAN OTHERS, NO MATTER WHICH TYPE OF PLASTIC YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.
10. MYTH: COLOR MATCHING TO ANYBODY’S STANDARD IS SIMPLE, EASY AND A NO-BRAINER. YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT WITHOUT AN UNDERSTANDING OF COMMON COLOR MATCHING PROBLEMS.
11. FACT: IT IS POSSIBLE TO RECYCLE PVC. QCM COMPANY RECYCLES A MINIMUM OF 5% VINYL PLASTISOL EVERY YEAR. MOST XOLB INKS HAVE 5% RECYCLED PVC CONTENT.
