When it comes to working occupations, joinery carries more risks than most; with hazards like slips, falls and equipment failures posing a continuous threat to health and safety. In such a hands-on job, who’s got the time to spend worrying on what’s going into their adhesives? Not our customers! That’s why we’re working behind the scenes to remove dichloromethane from our products.

We get it: joinery has its challenges. Whilst our customers have to constantly watch their backs for those common workplace risks, they must also take precautions to protect themselves against dangers to their personal health. That means masking up and taking care to minimise the impacts of harmful chemical inhalation.

So - what kind of harmful chemicals are we talking about? Whilst there’s a few common culprits to consider, one compound takes the prize when it comes to reaping harmful impacts on our health: dichloromethane. Indeed, whilst this chemical is extremely familiar in the world of adhesives, many continue to use it without any awareness of its harmful effects. 

Understanding the Risks of Dichloromethane 

Here at TensorGrip Joinery, we’re pioneering research and development to remove this compound from our entire adhesives range, and there’s lots of reasons behind this decision. Let’s take a look at just some of the reasons behind our action against dichloromethane:

• Bad For Your Eyes: Dichloromethane presents a significant risk to the health of our eyes - period. When this chemical makes eye contact with the eyes, it can cause painful irritation which can eventually lead towards vision loss and blindness.

 

• Bad For Your Lungs: Joiners work with a number of products that pose a risk to their respiratory health, and dichloromethane plays a major role here. Aside from short-term effects like coughing, wheezing and/or a shortness of breath, higher levels of DCM inhalation can lead to long-term effects like headaches, nausea, fatigue and dizziness. More significantly, studies have even connected DCM with serious health conditions like brain and liver cancer. 

 

• Bad For Your Skin: From redness and irritation to skin burns, dichloromethane has been noted throughout the industry for its dermatological impacts. 

DCM and the Joinery World

After a cursory glance at facts and figures from the HSE, it is clear that the time to act on dichloromethane is now. Indeed, recent data from the public health body has found that approximately 99% of work-related deaths each year can be attributed to chemical exposure. In total, around 13,000 deaths each year are from work-related lung disease and cancer arespirattributed to past exposures. 

As leaders in adhesive engineering, the buck ends with us. That’s why we’re focussed on one thing and one thing only: taking dichloromethane out of our adhesives whilst ensuring they still offer the same adhesion and bonding power they’re renowned for. After all - it’s the least our customers deserve!

Minimum Health Risk, Maximum Bonding Power

As a brand of Quin Global, few adhesive manufacturers are in a better place to innovate in this area than TensorGrip Joinery Adhesives. That’s why we’re using our cutting-edge facilities and adhesive engineering expertise to lead the way towards a cleaner future for our customers. 

Removing dichloromethane from our adhesives represents a long-term strategy. However, we’ve taken significant strides towards achieving this goal. Here’s just a few of our DCM-free products that offer maximum bonding power with minimum health impacts:

• TensorGrip L19
• TensorGrip L20
• TensorGrip L21
• TensorGrip L22
• TensorGrip L24
• TensorGrip L31
• TensorGrip L42
• TensorGrip LP64
• TensorGrip L68
• TensorGrip L90

We’re leading the way in removing dichloromethane from adhesives. So, watch this space - change is coming!

Breathe Easy, Work Faster with TensorGrip DCM-Free Adhesives 

Removing dichloromethane from our adhesives doesn’t have to compromise on precision or bonding power, and we’re happy to prove it. To find out more about our range of DCM-Free adhesives, contact us to speak to a trusted advisor. Breathe easy - watch this space!