Although this US Air Force report is a couple decades old, it illustrates an important fact about sophisticated laboratory measurements. Here you have the Air Force trying to quantify and characterize emissions from jet engines. The researchers used all sorts of sensitive instruments –scanning electron microscopes, spark source mass spectrometers, and gas chromatographs/mass spectrometers. Along Read More
Thirteen Percent of Vaccine Refrigerators Improperly Operated
Vaccines are only as effective as their storage processes. As this research of a team from Huaimek Hospital in Thailand shows, not every healthcare practitioner is well-informed about the conditions necessary to maintain the potency of vaccines. Yet, as they state, “[a]dequate knowledge and practices in the cold chain system are important to keep potency Read More
 Richard Gaughan December 30th, 2011
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Artificial Thyroid Hormone Degradation Factors Investigated
A team led by FDA researchers investigated the shelf-life of levothyroxine, an artificial thyroid hormone. They stated their motivation very clearly: “Stability of formulations over shelf-life is critical for having a quality product.” Essentially, the best drug in the world is of little use if its effectiveness degrades as soon as it’s stored. Any time Read More
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Richard Gaughan December 30th, 2011
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CDC Offers Tips for Improved Medical Test Accuracy
When you see the words “health care costs” do you then think “spiralling out of control”? You wouldn’t be alone. The FDA is trying to push cost reductions while still maintaining the public health. One way to do that is to perform diagnostic tests at the point-of-care–the hospital or clinic. Such tests are called “waived” Read More
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Richard Gaughan December 30th, 2011
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DoD Manual Sets Out Good Environmental Laboratory Practice
Whew! If you want to learn everything there is to know about running an environmental test lab, you could do a lot worse than starting from the US Department of Defense’s Quality Systems Manual for Environmental Laboratories. This document has everything! It outlines good practices for everything from personnel training to data recording. Along Read More
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Richard Gaughan December 30th, 2011
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Annie Get Your Gun! (After A Good Ultrasonic Cleaning)
If there’s one thing that bugs me, it’s cosmoline on my SKS rifle. I guess I’m kind of like the guy in this video. He runs through a good ultrasonic cleaning on his rifle, and all sorts of gunk comes off. Well, actually, his ultrasonic cleaning technique is not all that good—he doesn’t give it much Read More
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Richard Gaughan December 30th, 2011
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Stability Chamber Helps Measure Shelf Life of Aspirin Formulation
There’s no need to describe the benefits of pharmaceuticals—drugs designed to improve human health, compensate for medical deficiencies, or ease pain and suffering. From the first formulation of buffered aspirin in 1853 (and its reformulation in 1899), drugs have played a large role in extending human life. But the lifetime of drugs themselves is always Read More
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Richard Gaughan December 29th, 2011
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Alkalizing Water Helps Maintain Good Internal pH Regulation
Just about every grocery store now offers a bewildering array of bottles of power water. They offer everything from water sourced in the South Pacific or the French Alps, to water supplemented with fruit flavor or vitamins. The question is, of course, do they have any health effects. Researchers from Montana State University wanted to Read More
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Richard Gaughan December 29th, 2011
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Measurement Method Makes it Possible to Measure Airborne Epoxy Resins
Epoxy resins are widely used in a variety of industries, from construction to medical device manufacturing to electronics fabrication. Unfortunately, there are some known health risks associated with exposure to epoxy resins, and perhaps some additional, as yet unknown risks as well. One barrier to identifying the risks is the difficulty of measuring levels of Read More
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Richard Gaughan December 29th, 2011
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Shellac Properties Examined in Stability Chamber
Shellac is a wood finish derived from the tunnels formed by secretions from the lac beetle. When dissolved into a solvent and applied to wood surfaces, it forms a protective layer that resists moisture. Scientists at Silpakorn University in Thailand embarked on an attempt to improve the stability of shellac films by adding a variety Read More
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Richard Gaughan December 29th, 2011
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