The Biocides Business

Biocides are products which control harmful organisms by chemical or biological means. They protect health, improve product performance and prevent spoilage, and are increasingly important to modern life, as consumers demand safe, long-lasting and effective products from cosmetics to paints, and from drinking water to swimming pools. The worldwide market for biocides is approximately $4 billion annually, and it is growing at up to 40er annum. The industry is highly segmented and has a wide range of distribution channels. These markets are generally mature although over-the-counter biocides for home use have commercial characteristics similar to other fast-moving consumer goods. Biocides are one of the most highly regulated and controlled types of chemical product. In the EU, the biocides industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation due to the Biocidal Products Directive. The regulations are tougher than any existing legislation either within Europe or indeed in the rest of the world, and could cost the biocide industry over $490 million to put into action. These costs are too high to maintain the existing range of products and some, particularly those in niche markets, will no longer be viable. This book describes the regulatory controls and the safety assessment methods for biocides for the EU, the USA and Japan and other key markets within a commercial, political and socio-economic context providing a broad overview of their main uses as preservatives, disinfectants, and pest controls. It will help industry, regulators and non-specialist readers get a balanced, up-to-date overview of biocides from the commercial and technical to the regulatory and safety aspects.

My professional interest in antimicrobial agents and contamination control goes back 50 years to my tour as a microbiologist in a field hospital in Europe during World War II. With no experience and relying solely on a military handbook, I prepared thermometer trays with jars of blue bichloride of mercury and pink isopropyl alcohol. A preliminary typhoid diagnosis of one of our cooks resulted in the need for lab testing. His stool specimen and its subsequent disposal was my problem. My handbook said bum it. So burn it T did, in a five-gallon can with gasoline. Flames shot up almost six feet, and my next mistake was to extinguish them with carbon tetrachloride. This resulted in the production of lethal phosgene gas. The hospital had a near disaster. I could say that at that moment I vowed to write a how-to book so that such stupidities could be avoided. Nevertheless, when I was offered the opportunity to edit this book I thought back on the need for a real, practical treatment of my subject. This book, then, is a practical handbook for technical service personnel and scientists who are not necessarily specialists in microbiology. It provides information on suitable antimicrobial agents appropriate to their particular problem-solving needs and information on the microbial groups contributing to the specific problem, their ecologies, and strategies for controlling their access to the area or material of interest.

Contamination of the aquatic environment by antifouling compounds has been a topic of increasing importance during the last few years. This book describes advances in antifouling paint biocides, and provides thorough evaluation of research and information on occurrence and levels, environmental fate, analytical techniques and methods for the monitoring and control, environmental modeling, ecotoxicological effects and risk assessment placing emphasis on the knowledge acquired over the last decade.

This book is chiefly intended for those who are using microbicides for the protection of materials. Another purpose is to inform teachers and students working on biodeterioration and to show today's technical standard to those engaged in R&D activities in the microbicide field. When trying to classify, or to subclassify, material-protecting microbicides according to their mode of action, e.g. as membrane-active and electrophilic active ingredients, it turned out that a clear assignment was not always possible. For that reason the author has resorted to chemistry's principle of classifying according to groups of substances (e.g. alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, acids, esters, amides, etc.), thus providing the first necessary information about the micro bicides' properties. The description of the various groups of substances includes, whenever possible, an outline of the mode and mechanism of action of the active ingredients involved. The effective use of microbicides presupposes knowledge of their character istics. That is why the microbicides' chemico-physical properties, their toxicity, ecotoxicity, effectiveness, and effective spectrum are described in greater detail. As mentioned before, the characteristics of microbicides play an important role. They have to be suited to the intended application to avoid detrimental effects on the properties and the quality of the material to be protected; also production processes in which microbicides are used to avoid disturbances by microbial action must not be disturbed by the presence of those microbicides.

This document brings together a set of latest data points and publicly available information relevant for Manufacturing. We are very excited to share this content and believe that readers will benefit immensely from this periodic publication immensely.

The focus of Handbook for Cleaning/Decontamination of Surfaces lies on cleaning and decontamination of surfaces and solid matter, hard as well as soft. Bringing together in a 2-volume reference source: - current knowledge of the physico-chemical fundamentals underlying the cleaning process; - the different needs for cleaning and how these needs are met by various types of cleaning processes and cleaning agents, including novel approaches; - how to test that cleaning has taken place and to what extent; - the effects of cleaning on the environment; - future trends in cleaning and decontamination, for example the idea of changing surfaces, to hinder the absorbance of dirt and thus make cleaning easier. A brief introduction is given to the legal demands concerning the environment and a historical background, in terms of development of detergents, from soaps to the modern sophisticated formulations. Bactericides, their use and the environmental demands on them are covered. Thorough discussions of mechanisms for cleaning are given in several chapters, both general basic concepts and special cases like particle cleaning and cleaning using microemulsion concepts. * General understanding of how cleaning works, function of ingredients and formulations * Overview of environmental issues and demands from the society in the area * Gives basic formulas for cleaning preparations in most areas

Numerous applications for biocides have been found in fields as diverse as ethical pharmaceuticals and cat litter products. The aim of this book is two-fold: to provide a comprehensive guide to the use of biocides across a range of applications; and to aid in the selection of a biocide that is "fit for purpose". It covers a cross-section of traditional measures, novel ideas and innovative developments, as well as addressing the biocides market, the political outlook and future trends of biocide use. With contributions by acknowledged experts in the field, Industrial Biocides is a unique title that will be welcomed by many in industry, including industrial and water chemists, microbiologists, and plant and environment managers.