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All technical contents of this standard are compulsory.
This standard is developed in accordance with the rules given in GB/T 1.1-2009.
This standard was proposed by and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China.
Limits of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in printing ink
1 Scope
This standard specifies the limits of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in printing ink as well as relevant terms and definitions, classification, requirements, test methods, packaging mark and list of prohibited solvents for printing ink.
This standard is applicable to various printing inks in the end-of-manufacturing state.
This standard is neither applicable to additives and diluents used to adjust the printing performance of ink, nor to cleaning agents for printing ink or other products used for printing.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
GB/T 34675-2017 Determination of volatile organic compound (VOC) content in radiation curable coatings
GB/T 36421-2018 Restricted substances concerning printing inks for packaging materials
GB/T 38608-2020 Method for determination of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) content in the ink
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
printing ink
dispersion system composed of colorants, binders, adjuvants, etc., used for coloring the printed material during printing
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.1]
3.2
volatile organic compounds; VOCs
organic compounds of which the initial boiling point is lower than or equal to 250℃ under the standard pressure of 101.3kPa
[HJ 2542-2016, Definition 3.2]
3.3
solvent-based ink
printing ink with organic solvent as the main solvent or dispersion medium
Note: it is a revision of Definition 2.32 in GB/T 15962-2018.
3.4
gravure ink
generic term of various inks applicable to printing using gravure with concave graphic part and convex blank part
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.14]
3.5
flexographic ink
ink applicable to flexographic printing
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.3]
3.6
ink-jet ink
ink applicable to ink-jet printing
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.25]
3.7
screen ink
generic term of various inks applicable to graphic printing using a screen plate composed of holes
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.21]
3.8
water-based ink
printing ink with water as the main solvent or dispersion medium
3.9
offset ink
generic term of various inks applicable to printing by transferring ink with a rubber blanket and using a lithographic plate with graphic part and blank part nearly on the same plane
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.7]
3.10
sheet-fed offset ink
printing ink applicable to sheet-fed offset press
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.8]
3.11
cold-set web-fed ink
web-fed offset ink that is cured and dried at room temperature
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.11]
3.12
heat-set web-fed ink
web-fed offset ink that is cured and dried by heating
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.10]
3.13
energy curing ink
printing ink that is cured and dried by polymerization reaction under the action of energy radiation
[GB/T 15962-2018, Definition 2.28]
3.14
intaglio ink
ink applicable to intaglio printing
4 Classification
4.1 Printing inks are classified into solvent-based ink, water-based ink, offset ink, energy curing ink and intaglio ink based on different main diluents in product composition. Water-based ink, offset ink, energy curing ink and intaglio ink have a low volatile organic compounds content.
Note 1: solvent-based ink contains volatile organic solvent as the main diluent.
Note 2: water-based ink contains water as the main diluent.
Note 3: offset ink contains vegetable oil or modified vegetable oil and high-boiling-point mineral oil with main distillation range above 250℃ as the main diluents. Energy curing offset ink is listed under the energy curing ink.
Note 4: energy curing ink contains energy curing activated monomer as the main diluent.
Note 5: intaglio ink contains vegetable oil, mineral oil with main distillation range of 160~300℃ and other solvents as the main diluents.
4.2 Solvent-based inks are classified into gravure ink, flexographic ink, ink-jet ink and screen ink based on the printing method.
4.3 Water-based inks are classified into gravure ink, flexographic ink, ink-jet ink and screen ink based on the printing method.
4.4 Offset inks are classified into sheet-fed offset ink, cold-set web-fed ink and heat-set web-fed ink based on the paper feeding and drying methods.
4.5 Energy curing inks are classified into offset ink, flexographic ink, screen ink, ink-jet ink and gravure ink based on the printing method.
5 Requirements
The limits of volatile organic compounds in printing ink shall meet the requirements of Table 1.
Foreword i
1 Scope
2 Normative references
3 Terms and definitions
4 Classification
5 Requirements
6 Test methods
7 Packaging mark
8 List of prohibited solvents
Annex A (Normative) List of prohibited solvents
Bibliography
