Robco Expert

  Thomas Cipriani – Product Specialist at Robco DEMYSTIFYING BIODEGRADABLE LUBRICANT TERMINOLOGY! What Does “Biodegradable Lubricant” Really Mean? The O rganization for E conomic C ooperation and D evelopment (OECD) developed a testing standard to determine the biodegradability of a product: OECD 301B. There are 2 classes; A) Readily Biodegradable > The product is able to biodegrade to its natural state after being subject to sunlight, water and/or microbial activity to a percentage of no less than 60% within 28 days. Readily Biodegradable lubricants are made with vegetable or canola base oils and are blended with synthetic esters. B) Inherently Biodegradable > The product is able to biodegrade to its natural state after being subject to sunlight, water and/or microbial activity to a percentage of as low as 20-60% within 28 days. They are most commonly used in sensitive areas requiring a “passing grade” on aquatic animal tests. They use additive chemistry contain...