Seekho aur Samjho: On-press chemistry - Part Two

The second Seekho aur Samjho (SaS) workshop, which was organised at SIES auditorium in Navi Mumbai, saw TechNova’s Avinash Kawadkar speak about on-press chemistry to an audience of more than 80 operators, supervisors and students.

During the three-hour workshop, Kawadkar identified the chemical hazards in the pressroom and shared tips to reduce the impact on operators’ health and environment. He spoke about the safety measures that one must implement on the shopfloor. 

He suggested use of use of solvent resistant gloves for handling pressroom chemicals as normal gloves will dissolved in solvents. 

Kawadkar said, "Isopropyl alcohol (IPA), which has a flashpoint of 12 degree Celsius, can form vapours at room temperature and these vapours when concentrated at one place tend to catch fire when introduced to a spark or fire. Hence the storage room should be well-ventilated and the electricity switch boards should be placed outside the room as a safety measures."



Kawadkar’s session demystified in Hindi, the role and functions of various chemicals and put light on key terminologies related to pressroom chemistry.

Kawadkar said, "Until we use solvent-based inks, printing industry will remain a pollution creating industry. What we can do to this is minimise the risk by using the solutions available."

In addition to following safety standards, Kawadkar highlighted the role and functions of IPA and pressroom washes.

Speaking about the need to use treated water on the machine based on GATF and IFRA standards, Kawadkar focused on various problems that can occur on the press because of variation in pH, conductivity and amount of salts in the water.

Kawadkar said, "There is a need to follow GATF and IFRA standards for offset printing. It is possible to reduce the usage of IPA in pressroom without compromising on quality. We should also lay emphasis on shifting from fast drying solvents which are non biodegradable to readily biodegradable slow drying solvents."

Kawadkar also spoke about maintenance and related factors and how there is a need to create awareness. 

In his concluding comments, he urged the audience to try and understand the details mentioned in material safety datasheets (MSDS) or technical datasheets (TDS) that come with all the chemicals that they use.

This  SaS workshop was the second in the series of training sessions initiated by the BMPA, PrintWeek India, Government Institute of Printing Technology, Mumbai and SIES Graduate School of Technology, Navi Mumbai. The first workshop, which was held in January at GIPT, saw an overwhelming response with an attendance of more than 80 audience.