Gravure ink is the mission of giving packaging aesthetics and functionality. The substrates are mainly paper and plastic film. However, the safety and hygiene requirements for food packaging are now extremely stringent and specific countermeasures need to be taken.
In the past, in the gravure printing industry where large amounts of organic solvents were used, the formulation of hydrocarbon compounds, the prevention of odor pollution, the improvement of the operating environment and other issues related to occupational safety and health, the handling of hazardous materials, and the fire control laws for related equipment have all been adopted. Necessary countermeasures. The past countermeasures have realized the practical application of the toluene-free gravure ink, especially the water-based gravure ink is gradually becoming practical in the field of film gravure printing.
This article introduces the key points and the status quo of the absence of toluene for special gravure inks used in food packaging.
2. Changes in the use environment of gravure ink
1) Export volume of printing ink
In 2000, the total shipment of printing ink in Japan was about 498,000 tons. From the point of view, the printing ink was 159,000 tons, accounting for 31.9% of the total, accounting for the largest proportion; the special gravure ink was about 136,000 tons. Accounted for 27.3%, ranking second. Compared with 1991, special gravure inks have increased by 16% in the past 10 years, which is slightly lower than the growth rate of 21% for all inks, but the proportion of shipments in the total amount is very large.
2) Composition of gravure ink
General gravure ink consists of pigments, resins, solvents, and additives, and the solvent accounts for about half of the total ink. When printing, it is necessary to reduce the ink concentration, that is, the use of solvents. The current situation is that these solvents are volatilized during the printing and drying process, some of which are recovered and most of them are released into the atmosphere. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the influence of gravure ink solvent on the working environment and the pollution to the atmosphere and the global environment, as well as the negative impact on safety and health.
3) Gravure ink and related regulations
For the gravure printing industry that uses a large amount of organic solvents, it is required to solve the following problems:
1 Organic solvent emissions and prevention of air pollution problems;
2 The improvement of the operating environment and the safety and health of food packaging materials;
3 Fire law issues related to the use of dangerous goods. 
Table 1 shows the related laws and regulations of the gravure printing industry in Japan. The gravure printing industry was criticized in the past for improving the operating environment. According to the Labor Safety and Sanitation Act of 1995, with the control concentration of toluene increased from 100 ppm to 50 ppm, printing companies that have taken corresponding environmental protection measures have increased. In addition, through the implementation of the Product Liability Law (PL Law), the safety of printed matter has attracted a lot of attention, and more food manufacturers have established corresponding control standards for the amount of residual solvents in food packaging bags. In particular, toluene tends to remain on the fast-food packaging material polyolefin (OPP), and end-users have proposed stringent requirements for controlling the residual amount below 1 mg/m 2 .
(to be continued)
Preface