Solvents, data about cleaning

Exposure Assessment. Since perchloroethylene is used as a dry cleaning solvent and PCE vapor is easily monitored, estimates of PCE exposure are relatively straightforward to make from existing data in the literature. Table II summarizes the results. Based on NIOSH data (17), machine operators are exposed to an average of about 30 ppm of PCE vapor during the working day, equivalent to a... 

Despite the growth of HCFCs, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers data show that ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere have declined overall about 3% since 1994. But that decrease is due almost entirely to a dramatic drop in the amount of methylchloroform, which was used as a cleaning solvent. Natural oxidation processes in the atmosphere remove methylchloroform so efficiently that its atmospheric concentration has been falling rapidly since production stopped. 

The adsorption and desorption kinetics of surfactants, such as food emulsifiers, can be measured by the stress relaxation method [4]. In this, a "clean" interface, devoid of surfactants, is first formed by rapidly expanding a new drop to the desired size and, then, this size is maintained and the capillary pressure is monitored. Figure 2 shows experimental relaxation data for a dodecane/ aq. Brij 58 surfactant solution interface, at a concentration below the CMC. An initial rapid relaxation process is followed by a slower relaxation prior to achieving the equilibrium IFT. Initially, the IFT is high, - close to the IFT between the pure solvents. Then, the tension decreases because surfactants diffuse to the interface and adsorb, eventually reaching the equilibrium value. The data provide key information about the diffusion and adsorption kinetics of the surfactants, such as emulsifiers or proteins. 

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