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Chemical formulators today face mounting regulatory and market pressures to slash volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and toxic petrochemicals from their products. Processes are strictly regulated with policies globally.
More specifically, in the EU, the REACH framework, which has been in force since 2007, compels companies to prove that the chemicals they’re using are safe, and similar policies have emerged worldwide, such as the TSCA federal law in the USA.
Beyond that, consumer safety standards such as California’s Proposition 65 and the EU’s SVHC lists penalize carcinogens and endocrine disruptors; choosing non-toxic solvent alternatives that avoid these pitfalls.
This is why brands that are caught using hazardous solvents risk bans and financial losses, and the trend remains clear: regulators and buyers alike are driving the industry toward greener chemistry.
By swapping out petro-solvents for safer bio-solvents, formulators can pre-empt bans and smoothly transition when next-generation safety standards arrive. In short, non-toxic solvent systems are already compliant with current rules and poised to meet tighter future mandates.
Why The Industry Needs a Change
While conventional solvents seem convenient, they carry hidden costs. Petrochemical solvents are flammable and toxic, posing serious health risks to workers and people in contact with them. Frequent exposure can lead to skin and eye irritation, tissue damage, and even metabolic impairment over time.
In this regard, public health studies have linked traditional solvents to neurological damage and endocrine disruption in humans. At the same time, consumers have increased their demands for “green” labels and safer ingredients in their purchases.
Conversely, eco-conscious industrial chemicals and solvents can weaken these harmful effects. For example, plant glycols have lower allergy risks and can’t cause skin irritation like petrochemical alcohols.
By relying on renewable feedstocks instead of finite oil, we are able to create sustainable solvents that significantly reduce carbon footprints. In short, while toxic solvents impose health and create environmental and economic burdens, bio-based replacements can largely avoid all of those negative effects, fostering a more sustainable and responsible industry.
Beyond that, bio-based solvents provide a significant competitive advantage. Through containing sustainable elements, plant-based solvents differentiate brands and meet the consumers' desire for green labels.
Moreover, bio-based feedstocks diversify supply chains. Plants regrow and can be sourced from waste or dedicated crops, reducing exposure to oil price spikes or scarcity. On the safety front, non-toxic solvents also dramatically improve worker conditions: they reduce toxic exposures, which in turn, lowers insurance costs and liability.
Lastly, companies with greener chemistries enjoy better ESG ratings, stronger investor appeal, and resilience against future carbon taxes. Adopting non-toxic solvent systems boosts brand reputation, ensures regulatory alignment, protects workers, and future-proofs supply chains.
What Makes a Solvent Non-Toxic?
Non-toxic solvent alternatives are not just 'less toxic' options. They are designed with safety and sustainability in mind at every stage of the product formulation. In practice, a non-toxic solvent efficiently dissolves greases, resins, or oils while minimizing hazards in handling, use, and disposal.
This means that they do not only perform well but also contribute to a safer and more sustainable working environment. Furthermore, if these solvents include characteristics such as Biodegradability (rapid breaking down in nature) and Low volatility (minimal evaporation at room temperature), they can assume a significantly benign exposure profile.
Let’s take RE:CHEMISTRY’s flagship solvents CLEAN300 and SOLVE100 as an example.
They are plant-derived and distinguished by an exceptional safety profile with no or light hazard labelling. Both solvents are biodegradable, non-flammable, and not classified as toxic to aquatic life.
Even more, they also deliver high performance in their respective applications, ensuring that formulators can maintain their product quality while meeting safety and sustainability standards.
Moreover, our sustainable butyl levulinate solvents also have extremely low vapor pressures and high flash points, meaning they evaporate very slowly and are resistant to ignition.
Non-Toxic Bio-Based Solvent Alternatives
As industries shift toward safer, sustainable solutions, bio-based solvents are emerging as high-performance alternatives to traditional petrochemical solvents. Derived from renewable plant materials, these non-toxic options offer exceptional solvency, low environmental impact, and improved worker safety.
Bio-based ethyl levulinate is a prime example of a non-toxic solvent ester. It can be synthesized from levulinic acid – a keto-acid obtainable from polymerized sugars in biomass – and ethanol.
The resulting ester has a high boiling point (~206 °C) and low vapor pressure, so it behaves as a low volatile, non-flammable solvent. Ethyl levulinate delivers high performance (low odor, low toxicity) in coatings, cleaners, and cosmetics, without the toxicity of petrochemicals.
RE:CHEMISTRY’s SOLVE100 is noted for its excellent solvency power and a very low Maximum Incremental Reactivity (MIR) value, meaning it dissolves challenging ingredients while reducing the ozone impact compared to the average anthropogenic VOC emissions.
Unlike many traditional solvents, ethyl levulinate is 100% biogenic – it also comes from non-food plant waste – and readily biodegrades in the environment.
Sustainable butyl levulinate is the C9 homolog of ethyl levulinate, sharing its many advantages with even lower volatility. Its normal boiling point is above 230 °C, its flash point is 110 °C and its evaporation rate is below 0.01 (compared to n-butyl acetate). This means that under the right ambient conditions, butyl levulinate is almost non-evaporating.
Its low volatility helps in dissolving heavy greases and resins very effectively. In practical terms, butyl levulinate helps coalesce acrylics or polyurethane in paints, lubricates machinery surfaces for cleaning, and acts as a cosolvent in solvent-based adhesives.
Industry references also note that butyl levulinate is readily biodegradable, and its lack of flammability and near-zero volatility make it safer for workers at risk of fumes and fires, and it still breaks down readily once released, avoiding long-term pollution.
Levulinate ketals are a modern subgroup of bio-solvents that combine levulinate esters withdi/tri-alcohols. In practice, reagents like ethyl levulinate react with propanediol (propylene glycol) to form a cyclic acetal (ketal).
RE:CHEMISTRY offers two such products: CLEAN300 and NEW320. They are plant-based solvents that, chemically, are neutral fluids that are ultimately biodegradable. CLEAN300 and NEW320 give formulators high-performance, eco-friendly solvent options built from renewable materials.
Performance-wise, these ketals offer exceptional solvency powers. For example, CLEAN300 is highlighted for its strong solubility performance, ingredient compatibility, and freeze/thaw stability in formulations. On the other hand, NEW320 is similar, but it is optimized for cosmetics as a safe alternative to cyclopentasiloxane, delivering a light, silky feel.
Both have very low vapor pressures and high flash points, so they behave like non-volatile oily solvents. In essence, levulinate ketals can replace glycol ethers, petroleum coalescents, or even siloxanes, retaining their formula performance while eliminating toxicity at the same time.
Industry Use Cases
Whether it’s enhancing the sensory feel of personal care products, powering through industrial grease, or delivering high-performance in paints and coatings, these next-generation solvents redefine what’s possible in eco-conscious innovation.
Personal Care & Cosmetics
Non-toxic solvents, particularly plant-based ones, have a significant impact on the natural personal care ingredients and the cosmetics industry. Skin and hair formulations require gentle, non-irritating carriers, and our solvents are the perfect fit.
For instance, RE:CHEMISTRY’s NEW320, a levulinate ketal, serves as a safe, high-performing alternative to cyclopentasiloxane, a volatile silicone. It imparts a soft, silky touch and a superb matte finish to sunscreens and creams, while also helping dissolve UV filters and fragrances in sun-care and deodorant products, enhancing natural content without irritating the skin.
Furthermore, in color cosmetics, RE:CHEMISTRY’s NEW320 enables uniform dispersion of pigments in lipsticks and foundations. In makeup cleaning cosmetics, it enables effective makeup and nail polish removal.
HI&I Cleaning
In household, industrial, and institutional cleaning products, non-toxic solvents can help in creating powerful, yet eco-friendly formulations. Due to plant-based solvents being concentrated and formulated without volatile fumes, they align well with the green cleaning trends in products.
RE:CHEMISTRY’s cleaning solvents allow for non-volatile, non-sensitising, non-toxic, non-flammable solutions for hard-surface cleaning formulas. In practice, CLEAN300 can solubilize grease and oils in degreasers and dish soaps without leaving the pungent odors of glycol ethers.
Sanitizers that have been formulated with our solvents achieve 99.99% bacteria kill while also simultaneously removing grease. Other HI&I applications of our solvents include laundry detergents, where we improve the fragrance solubility and enable high-bio-content formulas.
Industrial degreasing is another key use: RE:CHEMISTRY’s solvents enable fast degreasing of industrial surfaces in automotive or manufacturing facilities. In every case, replacing traditional solvents with levulinates reduces VOC emissions and eliminates acute hazards.
The result is concentrated, eco-labeled cleaners that meet performance requirements while simplifying compliance and worker safety.
Coatings & Paints
Coatings formulators also benefit from bio-solvents. RE:CHEMISTRY’s plant-based levulinate esters deliver excellent solubilizing power for a broad assortment of coating resins. This means they can carry or dilute resins as well as traditional solvents.
The other powerful application is in equipment cleaning products: by replacing acetone or MEK with safe solvents, a paint factory can eliminate VOCs completely during spray-gun and tank cleaning. With our solvents, VOC emissions for cleaning procedures can be reduced to zero, and even more, the need to transport hazardous solvents is eliminated.
Our solvents also act as degreasers and removers in coating prep: they can remove adhesives, inks, or old coatings from surfaces without damaging them. In automotive, marine, and aerospace coatings, non-toxic solvents help achieve necessary film properties while avoiding flammable thinners.
Overall, using bio-solvents in paints and inks means creating compliant, consumer-friendly products without sacrificing durability or finish quality.
Embrace Plant-Based Solvent Technologies
The technical and market case for non-toxic solvents is clear. Formulators and procurement teams should evaluate leading bio-solvent technologies as replacements in existing formulations.
In all of our products, we combine high solvency with green credentials: CLEAN300 is ultimately biodegradable, non-flammable, and non-classified as toxic to aquatic life while delivering performance, as well as SOLVE100, which carries 100% biogenic carbon with no flammability or classification for aquatic toxicity.
By giving our plant-based solvents a try, you can reformulate paints, cleaners, adhesives, and personal care products that meet consumer and regulatory safety demands. We encourage all chemical industry professionals and technical experts to test plant-based levulinates and ketals in their applications.
The payoff is long-term and durable: smarter formulations that protect human health and the environment will distinguish your brand and ensure long-term success in a rapidly greening market.
Looking for a trusted supplier of ethyl levulinate or butyl levulinate? RE:CHEMISTRY offers high-purity, bio-based solvents including SOLVE100 (ethyl levulinate), MOVE200 (butyl levulinate), and innovative ketal-based solvents like CLEAN300 and NEW320. If you're searching for who sells ethyl levulinate or who sells butyl levulinate, you've come to the right place. Contact us today to request samples or explore how our plant-based solutions can enhance your formulations.
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