Willing A
COGNIS, Deutschland GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Chemosphere. 2001 Apr;43(1):89-98. doi: 10.1016/s0045-6535(00)00328-3.
The development of lubricants like, e.g. engine and hydraulic oils was traditionally based on mineral oil as a base fluid. This fact is related to the good technical properties and the reasonable price of mineral oils. The Report to the Club of Rome (W.W. Behrens III, D.H. Meadows, D.I. Meadows, J. Randers, The limits of growth, A Report to the Club of Rome, 1972) and the two oil crises of 1979 and 1983, however, elucidated that mineral oil is on principle a limited resource. In addition, environmental problems associated with the production and use of chemicals and the limited capacity of nature to tolerate pollution became obvious (G.H. Brundtland, et al., in: Hauff, Volker (Ed.), World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), Report of the Brundtland-Commission, Oxford, UK, 1987), and the critical discussion included besides acid rain, smog, heavy metals, and pesticides also mineral oil (especially oil spills like the case Exxon Valdes). A disadvantage of mineral oil is its poor biodegradability and thus its potential for long-term pollution of the environment. From the early development of lubricants for special applications (e.g. turbojet engine oils) it was known, that fatty acid polyol esters have comparable or even better technical properties than mineral oil. Subsequently, innumerable synthetic esters have been synthesized by systematic variation of the fatty acid and the alcohol components. Whereas the alcohol moiety of the synthetic esters are usually of petrochemical origin, the fatty acids are almost exclusively based on renewable resources. The physico-chemical properties of oleochemical esters can cover the complete spectrum of technical requirements for the development of high-performance industrial oils and lubricants (e.g. excellent lubricating properties, good heat stability, high viscosity index, low volatility and superior shear stability). For a comprehensive review of their technical properties see F. Bongardt, in: Jahrbuchfür Praktiker, H. Ziolkowsky (Ed.), Verlag für chemische Industrie GmbH, 1996, pp. 348-361. This article will focus on the ecological properties of oleochemical (synthetic) esters. The environmental relevance of oleochemicals in comparison to petrochemicals is discussed, and then the principles of an ecological assessment are described. The ecotoxicological properties and the biodegradability of oleochemical esters are presented. Finally, the ecological properties of the oleochemical esters are discussed with regard to existing environmental classification and labeling systems.
传统上，发动机油和液压油等润滑剂的开发是以矿物油作为基础液。这一事实与矿物油良好的技术性能和合理的价格有关。然而，罗马俱乐部的报告（W.W. 贝伦斯三世、D.H. 梅多斯、D.I. 梅多斯、J. 兰德斯，《增长的极限》，罗马俱乐部报告，1972年）以及1979年和1983年的两次石油危机表明，矿物油原则上是一种有限的资源。此外，与化学品生产和使用相关的环境问题以及自然承受污染的能力有限变得明显起来（G.H. 布伦特兰等人，载于：豪夫，沃尔克（编），世界环境与发展委员会（WCED），布伦特兰委员会报告，英国牛津，1987年），批判性讨论除了酸雨、烟雾、重金属和农药之外还包括矿物油（特别是像埃克森·瓦尔迪兹号油轮泄漏那样的石油泄漏）。矿物油的一个缺点是其生物降解性差，因此有长期污染环境的可能性。从特殊应用润滑剂（如涡轮喷气发动机油）的早期开发就已知道，脂肪酸多元醇酯具有与矿物油相当甚至更好的技术性能。随后，通过对脂肪酸和醇组分进行系统变化合成了无数种合成酯。合成酯的醇部分通常源自石油化学产品，而脂肪酸几乎完全基于可再生资源。油脂化学酯的物理化学性质能够涵盖高性能工业油和润滑剂开发的全部技术要求范围（如优异的润滑性能、良好的热稳定性、高粘度指数、低挥发性和卓越的剪切稳定性）。有关其技术性能的全面综述见F. 邦加特，载于：《实用手册年鉴》，H. 齐奥尔科夫斯基（编），化学工业出版社有限公司，1996年，第348 - 361页。本文将重点关注油脂化学（合成）酯的生态性能。讨论了油脂化学品与石油化学品相比的环境相关性，然后描述了生态评估的原则。介绍了油脂化学酯的生态毒理学性质和生物降解性。最后，根据现有的环境分类和标签系统讨论了油脂化学酯的生态性能。
