AGC Chemicals Americas, Inc. says it has a “safer, highly effective and environmentally friendly” fluorinated precision cleaning alternative for medical device manufacturers.
“Environmentally Friendly” Cleaning Solvent for Device Makers
1 min read Premium comments
Secondary#medicaldevicemanufacturers#agcchemicalamericas#environmentallyfriendly
According to a March 26, 2018 company announcement, the solvent called Amolea AT2, is an alternative to n-propyl and trichloroethylene solvents currently used by manufacturers.
The Exton, Pennsylvania-based company claims the solvent “has no ozone depletion potential, low global warming potential and is non-flammable, enabling manufacturers to more easily meet strict environmental regulations.” The company also claims the solvent is energy efficient because of its “low latent heat of vaporization.”
The solvent, according to the company, “demonstrates excellent solvency with a wide variety of press, cutting, silicone and refrigerant oils; greases; asphalt pitches; and fluxes used in the electronics industry. It is approved for use as a precision cleaner, defluxing agent, carrier solvent for silicone and fluorinated lubricants, and moisture displacement fluid.”
Jim Scott, AGC’s technical manager says the solvent is an “ideal cleaning solvent” for medical device manufacturers because it lets them “comply with environmental regulations more easily and helps them to improve worker health and safety.”
AsahiKlin Fluorinated Solvents
The company says its AsahiKlin AE-3000 series of “environmentally sensible” fluorinated solvents were designed to replace halogenated solvents with unfavorable environmental properties. “AE-3000 cleaning agents have no flash point, no Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP), Low Global Warming Potential (LGWP) and low surface tension.”
According to the company’s website, the solvents are approved, “for use as precision cleaning solvents, defluxing agents for electronic circuitry, carrier solvents for silicone and fluorinated lubricants, and moisture displacement fluids. They can also be used in most existing vapor degreasing equipment with little or no modification.”
React:
Discussion
This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
Join the conversation
Orthopedic professionals are discussing this. Sign in and upgrade to read every comment and add your voice.