The Truth is Out There…

For those of you who are interested in metalworking fluid microbiology and microbial contamination control, I invite you to read my March 2016 Tribology and Lubrication Transactions TLT) article: MWF Biocides Part II – Science vs. Fiction.
This was an accidental article that I was asked to write in response to an error-laden article that had appeared in TLT’s November issue. The earlier piece had been written by an individual whose familiarity with the topic was limited to the research performed in the process of drafting the TLT submission. I had not yet read the article when I started receiving flaming emails from industry colleagues who mistakenly believed that I had an editorial role and had somehow approved the article for publication. Initially, my plan was to write a letter to the editor. Indeed, I wrote a draft letter listing each error and the correct information (with relevant references cited as appropriate). The letter morphed into the March article. To be sure that I wasn’t just offering my personal opinions, I recruited log time colleagues Drs. Neil Canter and Alan Eachus and Mssrs. Jerry Byers and Richard Rotherham to co-author the article. I am much indebted to each of them for their contributions to the effort.
MWF Biocides Part II focuses primarily on the scientifically unsupportable conflation of formaldehyde (HCHO) and formaldehyde-condensate microbicides (FCM). The toxicological profiles of FCM differ among specific chemistries, but as a group are substantially different from HCHO. Moreover, although regulators assume that 100% of the HCHO in FCM will end up in the air above metalworking fluids (MWF) threated with FCM, data prove otherwise. Over the past couple of years, the number of microbicides approved for use in MWF has plummeted. In Europe there are only 27 listed biocidal substances (most are still going through regulatory review) that can be used in MWF. In the U.S., by last summer, the US EPA’s Office of Pesticides Programs will most likely issue guidance that will determine the future availability of FCM. In addition to clarifying the FCM issues that had been misreported in the November article, the March article sets the record straight on nearly 30 other misstatements made in the earlier publication.
Please contact me at fredp@biodeterioraiton-control.com for a copy of the MWF Biocides Part II.