Leverkusen - The Performance Butadiene Rubbers (PBR) business unit of the synthetic rubber manufacturer LANXESS plans to extensively forgo the use of processing oils with high polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content worldwide by the end of 2009. Some of the business unit’s production facilities have already completed the conversion to safer alternatives. All the others will follow suit as soon as it is technically feasible, but no later than December 1, 2009. “By doing this, we are ensuring that our consumers and their customers benefit from the same high standards worldwide and across all industries,” says Dr. Joachim Grub, Head of the PBR business unit of LANXESS. “Naturally, this change could potentially cause extra work and outlay for our customers. However, the development of high-quality rubber items also opens up new opportunities. That’s because alternative oils not only bring benefits in terms of health and safety, they also offer significant technical advantages.”

This decision is based on recent reports issued by a German consumer protection organization, which prove that inexpensive everyday rubber products in particular sometimes contain worryingly high levels of PAH. Many of these substances are considered to be, in all probability, mutagenic, reprotoxic and carcinogenic. Tar oils, which are added to some rubber raw materials to enhance their processing properties, have been identified as one of many sources of PAHs.

“LANXESS was one of the first manufacturers worldwide to undertake a far-sighted response to the PAH problem,” says Dr. Grub. “We have been offering our customers unproblematic alternatives since 2006 – and have provided customers who opted for these alternatives with our full support in adapting their rubber formulations. In some cases, this even involved making specific, complex adjustments to our own rubber raw materials. The decision to comprehensively eliminate our use of these substances simply represents the next logical step in the process. Nonetheless, we find ourselves blazing the trail within the industry, as legislation forbidding the sale of products containing PAHs has by no means spread to all parts of the world. Even in the United States, legislation relating to this issue is still at the discussion stage.”

The positive experiences LANXESS has enjoyed with customers who already decided to switch to LANXESS rubbers with “safe oils” over the past few years encouraged the company to take this step. “High-performance rubber blends are extremely complex systems involving multiple materials. Any decision to replace tried-and-tested components is not taken without very good reason,” explains Dr. Grub. “However, if you decide to leave the beaten path and regard oils as one of many mixing components with potential for optimization, this move away from products with a high PAH content – and it’s certainly time for such a move – brings with it considerable technological advantages. These benefits are evident not only in the processing properties of the rubbers, but also in the end properties of the vulcanized rubber items they are then used to produce. Far-sighted rubber manufacturers who decide to adapt their products in the interests of corporate social responsibility and product liability can now tap into this potential for themselves – and use the experience we have gained to help them do so.”