Greenland Technical Bulletin 94-6

Re: MARKET CONFUSION REGARDING TERMS such as "environmentally safe" (as defined by Greenland) and claims of biodegradability, synthetic and food grade in categorizing lubricants as being environmentally friendly.

Environmentally Safe: Greenland Corporation states that its Greenplus products are Environmentally Safe. To define its statement, Greenland Corporation considers much more than biodegradability. Greenplus products are completely non toxic, contain no petroleum, heavy metals or synthetics and are rapidly biodegradable. Backed by recognition from the Environmental Choice EcoLogo program and the Environmental Technology Verification Program, Greenland Corporation is a leader in the manufacture of environmentally safe fluids and lubricants.

Biodegradability: Biodegradability can be defined as a measure of the time it takes for a substance to be degraded in the environment. Biodegradability does not take into account toxicity to life during the product life span. In fact, biodegradability can be considered a secondary issue. Many toxic substances are biodegradable but during the time it takes them to degrade, they are poisoning vegetation, wildlife and perhaps humans. Lab tests of a product's ability to biodegrade use standards of temperature, bacteria and other conditions that often are very rare in the field. Actual field conditions may considerably slow the biodegradation of a substance, lengthening the time it can harm the environment. Many toxic substances can linger in the environment for decades. Greenplus products are rapidly biodegradable, but more importantly are not harmful to the environment during the period it takes them to biodegrade. Greenland bases that claim of safety not just on excellent results in biodegradability testing but more importantly from toxicity as established by 96 hour bio-assay test on fingerling trout. These tests indicate that the presence of Greenplus in the marine environment does not kill aquatic life. Biodegradability does not consider this factor.

Food Grade: "Food Grade" designation is being used by some companies as an indication of environmental acceptability. A vast majority of these products are petroleum based which, in itself, makes them unacceptable for spilling in the environment. Food grade status does not mean they are edible or safe, it only means that a very small percentage of the product is permitted by statute to contact the food product.

Synthetic Lubricants: Synthetic Lubricants again, make claim they are biodegradable, however, the word synthetic only identifies the method of manufacturing not the chemical make-up. A number of synthetics originate from a petroleum hydrocarbon base. They rely on additives from the petroleum industry to enhance performance. Most have petroleum content.