Posted on May 8th, 2012 in Dust Control, Environmental, Industry Watchdog, Soil Stabilization, Synthetic Fluids, Synthetic Organic Dust Control by Bob Vitale
Mark Twain said “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug”. And words are never so important as when used to describe important environmental attributes. There are a couple of words that, used together, have kept me up at night for more than a decade: (1) Synthetic (2) fluid.
First they kept me up as a scientist eager to bring an idea into reality. Now the reality is that they keep me up because they have been misused, misrepresented, and misappropriated in the market. That results in misguided buying decisions that do not meet expectations in terms of life cycle cost, performance and environmental impact.
Midwest’s role in the development of synthetic fluids started back in the late nineties. When the biggest technological burden the world faced was Y2K, Midwest was working on another global concern: keeping the Earth green. Given the power that dust and the products used to reduce it can have on human and animal health, aquatic systems, food sources and other plant life, we set out to invent a new technology for dust mitigation.
We call the result Synthetic Organic Dust Control®, a game-changing manufacturing process used to create synthetic fluids that are more environmentally sound – and subject to fewer cumbersome regulations – than older dust control products that are oils.
The benefits of synthetic fluids over oils are significant. Marketers, therefore, are calling products synthetic fluids even when they are not synthetic fluids as defined by the EPA. As a buyer, you need to ask the right questions to assure you will not end up liable for unintended consequences in the form of costly reportable incidents and regulatory fines. That is why we have written a paper comparing synthetic-based fluids to oil dust suppressants. The tests tell the story. We provide the narrative. You make the judgment about the kind and class of dust suppressant that will best meet your needs.
Please take this matter seriously. I really need to get some sleep!
Click here to read ”Synthetic-Based Fluids Versus Oil Dust Suppressants: A Comparison of Environmental and Regulatory Issues”. Continuing work is under way, and we will publish it as soon as it is available. This article is one in a continuing Intelligence series because at Midwest, we believe that the right information is everything.
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