Madison Chemical recognized for environmental stewardship

Madison Chemical, Madison, Ind., has been recognized by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Environmental Stewardship Program, for reducing its use of nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE) surfactants in its products. Though very effective at cleaning soils from hard surfaces, NPE-6, NPE-9, and NPE-12 surfactants can be highly toxic to aquatic life.

The company’s search for alternatives that are as efficacious though safer for the environment yielded reductions of more than 15,000 lbs. from 2018 to 2021. Working with suppliers, regulators, and customers, Madison chemists determined exact specifications for each product and verified performance of each revised product through extensive cleaning tests. Only about 3% of the company’s products still require the use of NPEs for proper functionality and stability.