The Handbook of Chemical Substitutes

Contents - IntroductionSubstitute RequirementsMiscellaneousList of Substitutes and AlternativesAppendixPreface - Historically, this book was started about 40 years ago. At that time, thecosmetic, drug and flavor industries were seeking substitutes for glycerinand ethyl alcohol-for economic reasons and to avoid the red tape connectedwith the buying, storage, use, and selling of alcohol and alcoholicproducts. Fair substitutes were developed for both of these products, butwhen the price of glycerin was stabilized at a reasonable figure, these substituteswere almost completely forgotten.Over a period of years, this writer has developed substitutes or alternativesfor numerous products in diverse industrial fields. Thus, a file of suchmaterials has been built up. To this has been added the suggestions ofothers and references from scientific and technical journals and texts.This book cannot be regarded as complete or encyclopediac. The subjectmatter is in a state of flux and is growing and changing continuously. Itshould be useful to many as a starting point. It should not be expectedto give the final answer to a highly specialized need. It is the task of thespecialist or expert to glean from it what may be applicable and to interpret,interpolate, or ""imagineer"" a solution to his specific problem.Condensation, rather than elaboration, has been the precept in assemblingthis information, in order to expedite the publication of this book. It isthe concentrated essence of many years of experience of many chemists,engineers, and other technical workers.