We are using what we thought was "biodegradable oil" in some hydraulic submersible pumps but I'm not sure anymore and I hope someone can shed light on this issue. We are using an oil from a prominant oil company. The first page of their product data sheet states that it is "inherently biodegradable", yet their own MSDS states "This material is not expected to be readily biodegradable". Is this newspeak? Are vegetable oils the only truly biodegradable oil? Can a petroleum based oil ever really be considered biodegradable? Please help. Thanks

Biodegradability simply means a chemical breakdown of the material by living organisms in the environment. The net result is carbon dioxide and water. Everything is biodegradable.

The definitions in the oil industry are:

Inherently biodegradable - an oil that degrades >20% in an extended period of time. (By that definition, all oil products are inherently biodegradable.)
Readily biodegradable - >60% of the oil is converted to carbon dioxide in 28 days. (Therefore, the oil that you are using is not readily biodegradable.)

I suggest that you discuss this with your oil supplier and get recommendations for vegetable and synthetic alternatives that are readily biodegradable.

Good luck.

Pat, in answer to your question about readily biodegradable hydraulic fluid, there is a company out there that makes a high quality readily bidegradable hydraulic fluid. I would suggest you check them out if you have the time. It is ECO-SAFE by American Chemical Technologies[URL=http://www.americanchemtech.com/ecosafe1.htm]

Cargill also produces hydraulic oil from vegetable base stocks which may fill your requirement for readily biodegradable hydraulic fluid.

Thank you. That's the first time I've ever seen definitions for those terms.

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Originally posted by Greg Livingstone:
Biodegradability simply means a chemical breakdown of the material by living organisms in the environment. The net result is carbon dioxide and water. Everything is biodegradable.

The definitions in the oil industry are:
_Inherently biodegradable_ - an oil that degrades >20% in an extended period of time. (By that definition, all oil products are inherently biodegradable.)
_Readily biodegradable_ - >60% of the oil is converted to carbon dioxide in 28 days. (Therefore, the oil that you are using is not readily biodegradable.)


I suggest that you discuss this with your oil supplier and get recommendations for vegetable and synthetic alternatives that are readily biodegradable.

Good luck.

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Thank you. I'll check out their web site.

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Originally posted by Doug McBride:
Pat, in answer to your question about readily biodegradable hydraulic fluid, there is a company out there that makes a high quality readily bidegradable hydraulic fluid. I would suggest you check them out if you have the time. It is ECO-SAFE by American Chemical Technologies[URL=http://www.americanchemtech.com/ecosafe1.htm]

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Thanks for the lead. I'll check them out.

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Originally posted by BuckHntr:
Cargill also produces hydraulic oil from vegetable base stocks which may fill your requirement for readily biodegradable hydraulic fluid.

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I realize this chain is a little old, but it drives me crazy when prominent oil companies mislead their customers with confusing terms.
Greg-excellent explaination.
Terresolve Technologies www.terresolve.com also makes a full line of vegetable and synthetic readiy biodegradable products.

Thank you. It's never to late.

Things about biodegradability are not as simple as one would think. Although Greg’s criterion is correct, nobody bothered to identify test method that such criteria would be applied to. There are whole hosts of test methods out there, which do not yield compatible and/or comparable test results. Depending on which test method is used for testing oil or grease, the result could range from being 20% to 80% biodegradable. Therefore, for this criterion to be valid, there has to be identified the relevant test method, and other methods that are yielding comparable results and could be used as alternative methods. And just one more thing, to my knowledge, non-of the Government regulatory agencies in the US (e.g. EPA, DEQ) recognize and approve/support or regulate this criterion.

Thank you. It appears that nothing is simple.

John missed to say 'no agency (EPA) regulate this criterion'...like the Europeans did.

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Originally posted by Ricky:
John missed to say 'no agency (EPA) regulate this criterion'...like the Europeans did.

I am not aware nor I am concerned with what Europeans do, and how, and who, and why. Here in US, we have our regulatory agencies that we are accountable to, and therefore I stated only their position.

Amsoil Synthetic TBI ISO 32/46 Biodegradable Hydraulic Oil (TBI) is very competitive product regarding:
- 80% biodegrade within 21 days (CEC L-33-A-94) to its natural state when subjected to sunlight, water and microbial activity,
- is formulated with ashless additives that do not contain heavy metals, so has a very low toxicity level,
- is especially well suited for applications where environmental contamination due to leaking or blown hydraulic lines presents an environmental hazard,
- has been tested and found compatible with Nitrile (Buna-N), Poly Acrylate, Fluorocarbon (Viton) and Silicone seals which are commonly found in hydraulic systems,
- contains antiwear additives that have been thoroughly tested and qualified against stringent hydraulic oil standards including Denison HF-0, HF-1 and HF-2, Vickers M-2950-S and I-286-S and Cincinnati Milacron P-68 and P-70,
- outperforms Vegetable Type Bio-Hydraulic Oils.

Thank you very much.

In what way(s) does it outperform vegetable type oils?

John – You are correct in stating that Greg did not reference the type of testing but generally described “ultimate degradation”. The ASTM 6064 more clearly defines amounts and allowable limits and has a “Pw” (persistence) 1-5 description. It’s not perfect definition, but it’s a good step forward and certainly prevents unscrupulous marketer from misrepresentative claims like “inherently biodegradable”.
While no US Governmental agency has legislated the differences between biodegradable and non-biodegradable, they certain take those factors into consideration when determining spill clean-up and associated fines. The federal government has been very aggressive in adopting environmentally preferable and, in particular, biobased products. For example, the “Farm Securities and Rural Investment Act”, also known as the Farm Bill, requires affirmative purchasing of biobased products.

Djordon – I look at the product you reference and it is very expensive. One could find a high quality biodegradable synthetic hydraulic fluid for much less. Also an 80% biodegradable in the CEC-L-33 is marginal at best.

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Originally posted by Biodegradable Oil Guy:
While no US Governmental agency has legislated the differences between biodegradable and non-biodegradable, they certain take those factors into consideration when determining spill clean-up and associated fines.

To my understanding, when spill occurs, they don't care what you have put into your equipment, but what you leaked out. For example, even if you started with pure canola oil in your machine, after a year of operation or longer, this oil is “enriched” with various wear metals, including heavy metals in most cases. When spill occurs, they will take a sample of oil and analyze it. With all metals in it, this oil will be declared a hazardous waste, and originator of such spill would be accordingly fined. The fact that you originally filled your machine with pure canola oil will not make any difference in stiffness of the fine.

First, if you spill oil, no matter what kind, it is reportable. All environmental agencies that we’ve worked with have “unofficially” stated they prefer a biodegradable, nontoxic fluid to a petroleum heavy metal containing one. Realistically, in the event of a spill, even after several years in service, which would cause less environmental damage, a readily biodegradable fluid, that originally contain no harmful additives or metals, or a fluid that is petroleum based, that will persist in the environment for years, preventing oxygen exchange, causing sludge, that was formulated with heavy metals such as zinc, copper and barium?
The “Edible Oil Act” requires environmental agencies to take base-fluid type into consideration when assessing spill damage and associated fines. A client of ours in your “neck of the woods”, Elliot Bay, Puget Sound, recently spilled about 200 gallons of biobased oil. The Wa. State DEP has a formula based on type of fluid, persistence, toxicity, amount spilled, where it is spilled, and what time of year that determines what the “fine” will be. Originally, based on conventional petroleum hydraulic fluid the fine was assessed at $40,000! After meeting with the DEP, reviewing toxicity and biodegradability data, other precedents and so forth, there was no fine at all. In over 10 years of promoting biobased products and multiple client spills, I have never had a case where a fine was not either eliminated or dramatically reduced due to the use of an environmentally preferable fluid. I published a paper a while ago, tailored to the commercial diving industry that reviews biodegradable fluids and regulations. Here is the link for you reading pleasure http://www.terresolve.com/pr.html.

Very interesting. It sounds like a leak of any kind is not acceptable because the system is rigged against the user. There are no leakproof systems in our business so it looks like we just take our chances every time we use the equipment.

Thank you very much. Very good info.