Product News: ICP Optical Emission Spectrometer Offers Analysis of Toxins in Toys

Application allows routine analysis of toy samples for consumer safety verification

Published: Friday, September 25, 2009 - 13:46

(Thermo Fisher Scientific: Cambridge, UK) -- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., recently announced a new application note to illustrate the capabilities of its Thermo Scientific iCAP 6200 ICP spectrometer for the analysis of toxic trace elements in children’s toys. The dual-view inductively coupled plasma (ICP) instrument offers preoptimized sample introduction settings and analysis-ready software method templates. The new application note, entitled “Analysis of migratory elements in toy samples using the Thermo Scientific iCAP 6200 ICP spectrometer,” assesses the performance of the iCAP 6200 ICP for the routine analysis of toy samples for consumer safety verification. It is available for download in the literature library at www.thermo.com/icap.

Manufacturers routinely analyze toy samples for toxic trace elements but recent cases of contaminated toys suggest that heavy metals are still present in all consumer products. This has resulted in an increasing number of toy producers opting to perform in-house testing to ensure compliance with current regulations and protect consumers. For many, in-house testing can be less costly than outsourced analysis. Currently, many regulations worldwide are based on a test method that monitors the levels of trace elements migrating from a toy material into an acidic solution. This simulates the release of elements when toy components are ingested by a child.

The application note details the analysis of three samples extracted from a toy car and a baby rattle, each prepared in accordance with ASTM F963-08 and EN71 Part 3. The study utilized the iCAP 6200’s integrated Thermo Scientific iTEVA software, which is supplied with preloaded method templates that enable protocol-compliant sample analysis in the environmental, food safety, toy safety, and WEEE/RoHS market sectors. These templates, combined with the instrument’s preoptimized sample introduction system, enable simple, consistent, out-of-the-box operation, and ensure that novice and experienced ICP users can achieve powerful analytical performance with minimal method development requirements.

The capabilities of the iCAP 6200 ICP spectrometer are further examined in a webinar that is available at no cost via www.spectroscopynow.com/thermowebinars. The webinar is ideal for routine laboratories currently running or considering ICP technology, and explores how to achieve the utmost efficiency while maintaining confidence in the quality and reliability of the results. Areas covered include considerations for ICP instrument selection, optimizing technology for cost efficiency, and tips to achieve pain-free method development. The webinar features examples from environmental and food/consumer safety applications. 

For more information about the Thermo Scientific iCAP 6200 ICP or to obtain a copy of the application note, please call (800) 532-4752, e-mail analyze@thermofisher.com, or visit www.thermo.com/icap.

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s products and services help accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and solve analytical challenges from complex research to routine testing to field applications. Headquartered in Waltham, MA, it serves customers within pharmaceutical and biotech companies, hospitals, clinical diagnostic labs, universities, research institutions, government agencies, and environmental and industrial process control settings. Customers are served through two premier brands: Thermo Scientific—offering high-end analytical instruments, laboratory equipment, software, services, consumables, and reagents to enable integrated laboratory workflow solutions, and Fisher Scientific—providing laboratory equipment, chemicals, supplies, and services used in health care, scientific research, safety, and education.