Following a recent investment programme, independent UK-based testing, research, development and consultancy facility Glass Technology Services has added plastics, polymers and other materials to its existing glass fragment and foreign body analysis expertise. Where manufacturers, fillers, retailers or brand owners are unable to identify source materials, Glass Technology Services works directly with production sites to audit production lines. This includes identifying, analysing and confirming or ruling out potential sources of contamination to ensure that the root cause is identified and remedial actions recommended in order to prevent recurrence. The facility's recent investments in fragment analysis include FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra-Red) Spectroscopy, which is able to identify and BIO-RAD's "KnowItAll" spectral database, which enables the team to provide extensive sample identification across plastics, polymers and a wide range of other materials. Additional composition analysis is available through energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and wavelength-dispersive X-Ray fluorescence (XRF). Both optical light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) allow further vital information to be determined such as surface features, manufacturing methods and how the foreign material may have been used or damaged since its manufacture, giving clients a fuller picture of the potential origins of the source material. Glass Technology Services is able to issue the results electronically with in 24 hours of receiving the sample or, depending on the urgency, within a few hours, in many cases helping manufacturers avoid product recalls as well as protecting their brand reputation.
