NONAMMONIA DELIMING OF CATTLE HIDES WITH MAGNESIUM LACTATE

Due to effluent limitations there is a great deal of interest in the t anning industry to find a replacement for ammonium salts currently use d in the deliming process. Considerable attention has been paid to mag nesium salts, in particular to magnesium sulfate or magnesium chloride , either as the salt alone or in combination with various acids. Leath er resulting from deliming with these magnesium salts is comparable an d in some ways superior to leathers delimed with ammonium sulfate. Thi s paper proposes the use of magnesium lactate for non-ammonia deliming of white hides. Magnesium lactate combines the advantages of deliming with lactic acid (increased solubility over the calcium salt of the a cid) and the advantages of magnesium salts (improved grain quality of the finished leather). The detailed procedures and the results of tann ery scale evaluations using magnesium lactate are presented. An inexpe nsive source of this chemical is described, prepared from a dairy indu stry waste effluent.