How Does Bromothane™ Compare
with Vertrel^® HFCs?

MicroCare sells the DuPont family of HFC solvents, known by their DuPont brand name of Vertrel^®. So you should know, before we go any further, that we really like these HFC solvents. But then, like any proud parent, we might be a little biased.

To our mind, the Vertrel^® solvents are just like the great old DuPont solvent, Freon^®, but without the environmental problems of that popular CFC-based cleaner. Vertrel^® is SNAP-approved without restrictions. It is very safe for users, so the regulations allow Vertrel^® to be used in traditional non-NESHAP vapor degreasers and even in aerosol products. Vertrel^® has almost no aroma and boils at low, energy-conserving temperatures. It has good to excellent compatibility with almost all materials of construction. All of these factors combine to make Vertrel^® an excellent choice.

[Photo, left] The Vertrel^® solvents from DuPont are a popular solvent choice around the world. These products are marketed in bulk and in aerosol packages by MicroCare (our favorites!), Electrolube, Chemtronics and other quality companies. The Bromothane™ products can replace these HFC cleaners when an engineered system is being used and when materials compatibility is not a problem. Otherwise, the two products co-exist together very nicely, each having their place in the market.

But Bromothane™ has a place in the market along with Vertrel^®, just as the old chlorinated solvents co-existed with CFCs for years. Bromothane™ is a more powerful degreaser than the HFC solvents. It offers very familiar handling, similar to the 1,1,1-trichloroethane cleaners that were so popular in thirty years ago. Bromothane™ boils at about 65° C/165° F so it can be used to remove waxy residues and buffing compounds that lower-temperature solvents cannot touch. It is very aggressive so cleaning is fast and easy. Perhaps most attractively, Bromothane™ is far less expensive than the HFC-based cleaners, typically 40-50% less per drum. This makes it very competitive in the market.

But we'll be the first to admit Bromothane™ is not perfect. Since the cleaner is very aggressive it also may attack soft plastic components. It has an aroma which is annoying at first but then easily ignored. MicroCare and Great Lakes Chemical have assigned it a toxicity rating of 10 ppm, which is much lower than the 200 ppm assigned to the Vertrel^® products. Perhaps most interestingly, because of the low toxicity rating MicroCare will only permit the Bromothane™ products to be used in tightly-engineered systems with very low risk of worker exposures, such as vapor systems designed under the NESHAP regulations. So the product does not fit aerosol or hand-wiping applications.

NPB solvents contain 100% VOCs, so they are not a favorite choice in Southern California even though their Global Warming component is very slight. The cleaner is a slight ozone-depleting material (although not listed as a Class II ozone-depleting substance by the Montreal Protocol) while the HFCs are completely ozone-safe. Oddly, nPB was never identified as an O.D.S. in the Montreal Protocol because it was never considered as a replacement solvent for the CFCs. But times change. If the lists were to be prepared today there is little doubt that nPB would be listed as a Class II ozone-depleting solvent.

So here's our conclusions: if you need a strong cleaner for your vapor degreaser, and plastic compatibility is not a worry, then the Bromothane™ solvents can save you money. Otherwise, the Vertrel^® products are an excellent choice.

Updated: Jan 5, 2004
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The term "Bromothane", "BromoBooster", "BromoTest" and the Bromothane logo are trademarks of MicroCare Corp.