Unacceptable Approaches

1. Use of non-chemical or functional terms

It is unacceptable to use terms such as dye, surfactant (even if qualified with the type such as anionic, cationic, or nonionic), catalyst, binder, colorant, emulsifier, inhibitor, organic solvent, etc. as the GCI. Terms such as trade-secret or proprietary should not be included in the GCI.

2. Use of pseudochemical names or misleading names

It is unacceptable to use syllables or masked syllables from the conventional chemical nomenclature, in a way that misrepresents the chemical structure or creates a name that would be enigmatic even to a person who had access to the CBI. This includes using inappropriate prefix and suffix syllables in the GCI, when these radicals or functional groups are not present. Juxtaposing a series of simple chemical terms such as “oxo-alcohol ether sulfate” or using creative phrases such as “oxygenated ketone” should be avoided. The order of the components of the name should relate to the actual chemical name. For example, “alkylaryl halide” would be unacceptable if the halide were on the alkyl group (in which case, the GCI would be more correctly arylalkylhalide or haloalkylarene). Similarly, “aminoalkanol” would be unacceptable if the CBI were a secondary or tertiary amine with one or more alkanol groups. In this case, the preferred GCI would be hydroxyalkylamine or alkanolamine. Where the precise structure of the reaction product is known, the use of a name as a GCI based on the precursor or starting ingredient(s) of a reaction (e.g. ketoxime, acetylenic) would generally be considered too ambiguous (i.e. a generic name).

3. Use of long descriptive phrases or a list of atoms

It is unacceptable to refer to a specific chemical ingredient as, for example, a “long chain hydrocarbon containing sulphur and nitrogen”. The GCI should include some aspect of the chemical structure, as well as one or more functional groups or radicals e.g. sulphurized fatty alkanolamine.

Date Modified: 2010-12-15

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Important Notices