Why Is EPA Working With Screen Printers?
There are about 20,000 graphic art screen printing shops in the United States. These mostly small- and medium-sized businesses perform diverse functions ranging from the printing of billboard advertisements and posters to printing onto electronic equipment. Screen printing involves stretching a porous mesh material over a frame to form a screen. Then a rubber-type blade (squeegee) is swept across the screen surface, pressing ink through a stencil and onto the print material. In the course of providing their services, screen printers can reclaim the screens using solvents to remove inks, emulsion (stencils), and remnant image elements so the screens can be used again. The use of these solvents, however, can pose potential risks to the people who work with them and to the environment. The Design for the Environment (DfE) Screen Printing Partnership is a unique, voluntary effort between the screen printing industry and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dedicated to helping sc
