Alternative, Non-toxic Chromates Meet Military Aircraft Specs

摘要

Since the 1930s, government and industry have used chromate conversion coatings with toxic hexa-valent chromium on aircraft. This coating provided corrosion protection and improved paint adhesion.rnThe two primary sources of hexa-valent chromium in the painting process come from the pretreatment and the primer paint itself. Throughout the decades, attempts to reduce or eliminate this toxin from the process were resisted because existing standards and specifications called for this conversion coating. Worker exposure to this toxin in paint facilities, however, caused cancer rates to soar to alarmingly high numbers. Wastewater containing the carcinogen continued to be found in our communities.