Endocrine disrupters have been found not only in scouring agents but used in various other areas. The process agents made from nonylphenol derivatives, including detergents, oil varnish, rubber auxiliaries, rubber accelerators, anti-oxidizing agents and corrosion inhibitors for oil-based products, and oil-based agents to prevent oil sludge formation, come to quite a number.

Nonylphenol settles down in sludge after working on the effluent. Assuming that, in the near future, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment includes sludge treatment in its subjects to control and a consequent rise in the total costs of factory effluent treatment, Japanese surfactant manufacturers, in search of countermeasures, have developed new scouring agents made from other than nonylphenol derivatives, which are more expensive than those made with them but will lower the total effluent treatment costs.

Scouring in the pre-processing stage is the same in inkjet and other printing methods, however, there is a distinctive difference in post-processing. Inkjet printing has a great advantage in that post-processing (soaping and rinsing) is easier than conventional methods. With use of reactive-dye-based inks, post-processing becomes easier, and it is much simplified with disperse-dye-based ones. The process of soaping and rinsing can be omitted if pigment-based inks are used.