Table 1

Source Reduction Strategies for Principal Uses of Methylene Chloride

Industrial Activity
Source Reduction Strategy

Paint stripping (Aircraft, Ship, Metal)
Benzyl alcohol-based stripper [29]; Pyrolysis; [30] Sodium Bicarbonate Medium, Carbon Dioxide Blasting Operations, Fluidized Bed Paint Stripper, High And Medium Pressure Water Paint Stripping Processes, Plastic Media Blasting (PMB) Paint Stripping, Degreasing And Paint Stripping Using Sponge Blasting, Paint Stripping Using Wheat Starch Blasting, Vacuum Sanding System Paint Stripping Process, Benzyl Alcohol Paint Stripping; N-Methyl Pyrrolidone, Laser Decoating, Waterjet Stripping, FLASHJET Coating Removal Process, UNICARB Supercritical CO2 Coating Spray System [27]
Paint stripping (Furniture)
No and low methylene chloride alternative strippers [31]
Pharmaceutical Tablet Coating
Water-based [32]
Caffeine Extraction
Supercritical CO2 [33]
Foam (Flexible/Polyurethane)
CO2 [34]; Reduced pressure foaming, formic acid [35,36]
Foam (Rigid)
Self-cleaning piston system [37]
Degreasing and cleaning
Acidic Aqueous Solutions, Alkaline Aqueous Solutions, N-methyl Pyrollidone, Terpenes, Ethyl Lactate, Surfactants, Neutral Aqueous Solutions, Petroleum Distillates, Dibasic Esters, Glycol Ethers, Pure Water, Acetone, Alcohol, Ultrasonics, Low Pressure Spray, Power Washer, Semiaqueous Cleaning, Steam, CO2 Snow, Abrasives, Immersion Cleaning, CO2 Pellets, Brushing, Megasonics, High Pressure Spray, Wiping, Plasma, Supercritical CO2, Bicarbonate of Soda Stripping, Carbon Dioxide, Ice, Laser Ablation, Metal Media, Organic Media, Plastic Media Blasting, UV/Ozone Cleaning, Wheat Starch, Xenon Flash Lamp [38-40]
Adhesives
Water-based, Hot-melt, Radiant-Cured [41,42]

Roelofs and Ellenbecker Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source 2003 2:9   doi:10.1186/1476-069X-2-9