Environmental printing - part 1
Many of the pigments used in printing inks contain metallic compounds that are harmful to the human race and the environment such as cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury. Standard printing inks are petroleum based and used with alcohol-based solvents. When the alcohol and petroleum evaporates it gives off volatile organic compounds (VOC) are emitted. These are dangerous and when they mix with nitrogen oxide and sun light, it produces the petrochemical smog found above many industrial areas.
Vegetable or Soya based inks are low in VOC, around four to six percent against the 25 – 45 percent VOC emissions from petroleum-based inks that are hazardous upon contact, use a finite source and more energy than vegetable ink. When it comes to recycling, the petroleum ink takes a lot of energy and solvents to de-ink whereas vegetable and Soya ink can be removed with water and is biodegradable.
The use of vegetable and Soya inks is in the early years but great strives are being made to develop them alongside starch based lamination for many publications. Companies are now looking to produce literature in eco friendly and sustainable ways with little enviromnental impact.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
but these are lot more expensive arent they? First of all i think in india it would be next to impossible to find paints that are actually conforming to any standard. what we did in the earlier that means about 15 years ago was lime wash. but inevitably we all got colds thereafter. but it’s supposed to be quite eco-friendly.
December 19th, 2007 at 5:51 am
It is more expensive, at 20% more it could make a difference to printing but my thought is…do you really need to print? this is supposed to be a paper free age. I would like to know more about the lime wash please.
December 19th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
well actually most poor people use lime wash in india as paints are rather expensive.
okay now about lime wash. well we still use it in the quarters for our staff at home. and ofcourse the normal painters come and do it or the servants do it themselves. i think Lime wash is made by dissolving slaked lime in water and then you have to mix it by hand but make sure you wear gloves as the lime will cut up your hands. we use lime even in our paans and continuous eating of the stuff really knocks the hell out of your mouth. I think everyone’s become quite smart and one gets pre mixed as well but it’s a wee bit more expensive though not much.
December 19th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
i’ll find out a little more since i’m quite incompetent in this dept. and let u know
merry xmas
January 26th, 2008 at 1:11 am
The ability to breath is vital to the survival of almost all historic buildings and the application of impermeable modern renders must be avoided at all costs. Bob Bennett, one of the UK’s leading lime specialists, explains the importance and use of traditional lime renders. To read more go to-
http://www.thelimecentre.co.uk/Library/renders.pdf
http://www.limemortars.com/faq.htm
Infact York has a huge lime centre and conservation institute where a lot of the Charles Wallace scolarship students go. Do also check intach for further details.
http://www.intach.org/pdf/report_cam2004.pdf