The disappearance of a lathe operator led to the investigation of the black blobs in this tank.  Seriously  now!  - it must have taken a sharp eye to notice something wasn't quite right in this tank.  This photo and some priceless others are found in the March TLT Edition.  The article is titled THE REGULATORY FUTURE OF ANTIMICROBIAL PESTICIDES, by Dr. Neil Cantor.  The link to the article is provided courtesy of STLE, a not for profit organization.

The article deals with the struggle  between the hazards of biocides and the hazards and costs of not using them.  Pages 34-45 include a detailed treatment based on interviews with several industry experts.  There is no discernable disagreement between them, so the multiple expert panel format is interesting, but pretty singular in perspective.  Still, this is a great article.  Not a single mention of good bacteria from any of these guys.  Whatever happened to that?  It's like Nixon, we need it now more than ever. 

Article topics include reasons for use, types of biocides and how they work, the trend away from formaldehyde releasing biocides, the difficulties of finding compatibility with the mwf formulation, the emerging understand of biofilms and more.  A discussion on measurement methods (a frequent topic at METALWORKING FLUID MAGAZINE) was included, with the problem being that by the time your dip slides are ready to read, you might have giant turds in the tank like in the picture above.  

There is also discussion about hexahydro-1,3,-tris-(2-hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (HHT).  I'm an engineer, so I believe that the longer the name of the chemical, the more dangerous it is.  That one needs a nickname, so they call it HHT.  Sounds about four acronyms more deadly than DDT to me.

There is an interesting discussion about food grade lubricants and pesticides versus preservatives.  You should read this.  When you do, keep in mind, imported foods are not tested by the FDA. 

In the end, the conclusions I draw from the article is that biocides are like women 1) you can't live with 'em, 2) you can't live without 'em, and 3) the older you get, the fewer you will have to choose from. 

We try really hard to be politically incorrect over here.  How we doing?