Eastman Omnia™ high-performance solvent proves it's possible to have a product that's both "green" and highly effective at removing tough soils. This revolutionary solvent, which meets CARB's LVP-VOC criteria, is changing the chemistry of clean through its winning combination of exceptional human and environmental safety, strong performance, and value through its versatility.
The innovative chemistry behind this product brings remarkable cleaning power and safety to Om1 Series, a new line of cleaners from Nyco Products Company. "Nyco is proud to bring the first Omnia-formulated industrial and institutional cleaning brand to the North American market. Om1 Series, powered by Omnia from Eastman, offers greater cleaning efficacy with safer ingredients, performing unlike any formulation ever before," said Bob Stahurski, president of Nyco Products. Initial offerings of the Om1 Series powered by Omnia include a multi-surface cleaner, a power degreaser, and a bath and restroom cleaner.
The introduction of Omnia demonstrates Eastman's commitment to meeting market needs with sustainable products. "We've developed an underpinning technology process that allows us to create new molecules based on our understanding of market needs and regulatory drivers. Unlike most solvents, Omnia does not require customers to compromise performance to achieve an excellent safety profile, reduce toxicity and reduce environmental impact," said Glenda Eilo, Eastman solvents business director.
Safer for People and the Environment
Safety was a top priority for the team that created this new solvent. Candidate molecules were initially screened against EPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) criteria for safer solvents. During the development process, Eastman scientists worked with representatives from the EPA to transparently determine Omnia's status. Omnia meets DfE's criteria for a safer solvent and is listed with the highest rating (full green circle) on DfE's Safer Chemical Ingredients List. Omnia is also listed with no restrictions by GreenBlue® on its Cleangredients® database.
"The best way to document the safety advantage of Omnia is by evaluating whether specific effects occur following a variety of exposure scenarios. To this end, single or repeated exposures of Omnia did not produce evidence of acute toxicity, genetic toxicity, developmental or reproductive toxicity, skin sensitization or skin irritation. All tests confirmed Omnia to be extraordinarily benign," said Dave Kossor, Eastman toxicologist.
In addition, testing indicated there is no evidence of Omnia impacting aquatic life, and it is readily biodegradable. Omnia is highly effective in neutral pH formulations, eliminating the need to develop cleaning formulations that are either acidic or caustic, both of which can be harmful to surfaces, people and the environment.
High Performance Cleaning Action
Tests show Omnia requires fewer scrubs than its competitors to effectively clean a wide range of soils. In the absence of a clear industry standard to isolate and test the efficacy of cleaning ingredients, Eastman senior technical associate Dr. Jos de Wit developed an innovative scrub machine to test the cleaning power of different solvents. This machine removes two variables that contribute to the cleaning process, mechanical and thermal energies, making it possible to evaluate the power of chemical energy exclusively. "We compared Omnia against all the commonly used solvents in HI&I cleaners. Omnia outperformed all of them consistently every time," said de Wit. From greasy dirt and tar to soap scum, Omnia outperforms the industry's most common solvents, making it an ideal ingredient for most cleaners, including window, general surface, bathroom and floor formulations.
Meeting Market Needs
Because Omnia is a low vapor pressure volatile organic compound (LVP-VOC) and has an excellent toxicology profile, it offers more flexibility to formulators who face the challenge of meeting increasingly restrictive standards from government directives, third parties and their customers.
"As regulations have become more and more stringent over the past 10 years, you've probably noticed that cleaning products don't work as well as they once did. That's because companies have had to reduce or eliminate ingredients like solvents that enhanced the performance of cleaning products. Omnia is giving companies that make cleaners the opportunity to formulate back to the performance that consumers and end users love," said Carol Perkins, industry leader, industrial & household care for Eastman.
With such a benign human health and environmental impact profile and its ability to tackle tough soils on a variety of surfaces, Omnia is changing the chemistry of clean.
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