(Kelso, Washington; November 10, 2010) - Columbia Analytical Services is pleased to announce its implementation of heavy metals testing that follows new recommendations released by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). Columbia Analytical’s Pharmaceutical Division, a registered analytical laboratory providing current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) compliant testing, abides by newly released instrumental methods guidelines for the detection of elemental impurities by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS).

The USP recently proposed toxicological limits for elemental impurities to produce reliable data at detection levels that easily meet the elemental impurity limits. Experts at Columbia Analytical have extensive experience analyzing metals in a wide variety of matrices. Instrumental methods provided by Columbia Analytical accurately detect if metals meet or exceed those limits.

Columbia Analytical will be exhibiting at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting, which will take place November 14-18, 2010, in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Morial Convention Center, booth #2605.

“We are thrilled to join the thousands of scientists converging at the AAPS Annual Meeting this year, sharing their various perspectives and ideas, all with the goal in mind to improve overall health through advancing pharmaceutical sciences,” stated Jeff Grindstaff, Columbia Analytical laboratory director. “We are excited to showcase our capabilities, especially our wide-spread expertise in the detection of impurities in heavy metals.”

Columbia Analytical provides pharmaceutical testing and presents sound, accurate and reliable data, coupled with excellent customer service. In addition to its heavy metals testing, Columbia Analytical’s comprehensive range of capabilities includes monograph testing, method development and validation, engineering studies, process validation and stability testing.

About Columbia Analytical Services, Pharmaceutical Division
Columbia Analytical Services, Inc., Pharmaceutical Division is a registered contract testing laboratory providing cGMP-compliant testing to the raw material suppliers, CMOs, and product developers/sponsors of the pharmaceutical industry. To ensure regulatory compliance, Columbia Analytical is FDA inspected and registered, and DEA licensed. Columbia Analytical professional scientists have extensive experience in analytical chemistry and routinely provide method development and validation for pharmaceutical testing. For more information about Columbia Analytical Pharmaceutical Division, visit www.caspharma.com.

Simi Valley, Calif. — A low cost testing option is now available from Columbia Analytical for detecting elemental sulfur (S8) in bulk drywall. The testing focuses on orthorhombic cyclooctasulfur (elemental sulfur: S8), a unique marker compound found only in drywall which causes corrosion. The test costs approximately $100 per drywall sample, depending on your project.

Columbia Analytical’s proven method for elemental sulfur uses gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC/ECD) and allows for rapid turnaround of sample results. The GC/ECD analytical technique offers comparable sensitivity to the GC/MS method also offered by Columbia Analytical, but at a substantially lower cost.

The low cost GC/ECD analysis allows clients to screen a large volume of drywall samples quickly for S8. Because drywall used in home construction can be from mixed sources, submission of multiple samples from one suspect home may be done to reduce the risk of false negative results. In addition, confirmatory analysis of drywall for S8 by GC/MS is still available and may be performed on the same sample as the GC/ECD analysis.

Roughly 5g (approximately 2”x2”) of bulk drywall material is all that is required for this new GC/ECD analysis. Results are reported in units of mg/kg. A result higher than 10 mg/kg is typically indicative of corrosive drywall, making it easy to identify “bad drywall.”

Columbia Analytical’s Research & Development team began laboratory analysis on suspect drywall in spring 2008. They have since analyzed several hundred drywall samples from homeowners, home builders and developers, environmental consultants/industrial hygienists, government agencies and contractors, as well as, domestic and foreign drywall producers as part of their method development.

Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. is an employee-owned, full-service environmental analytical laboratory testing network established in 1986 and headquartered in Kelso, Washington. Their expertise encompasses air, water, dioxin, biological, pharmaceutical, solid and hazardous waste analyses.

For more information on the laboratory analysis of problem drywall, contact Alyson Fortune at 978.501.2735 or visit Columbia Analytical’s website at www.caslab.com.

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Learn more about Chinese drywall testing…

SIMI VALLEY, California — Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. announces it has established a reliable test protocol for identifying odor and corrosion problems in drywall. The tests identify problems with drywall, generally reported as “Chinese drywall,” that initially affected many homes in the southeastern United States.

“Our team has developed three technically superior and legally-defensible analytical tests related to the drywall problem,” said Michael Tuday, Director of Research and Development at Columbia Analytical’s Simi Valley, California laboratory. “We have been studying the issue and testing both foreign and domestic drywall samples since February, 2008, and are excited to have found a testing solution to isolate this problem.”

The Simi Valley laboratory confirmed that hydrogen sulfide is one of the major contributing agents causing the corrosion. With its characteristic rotten egg smell, hydrogen sulfide is a likely contributor to reported odors in affected homes. Other researchers have also identified iron disulfide (pyrite) and strontium sulfide as possible corrosion culprits, as well.

Researchers at Columbia Analytical also determined the drywall in question contains a naturally occurring allotrope of elemental sulfur and have developed a novel means of quantifying orthorhombic cyclooctasulfur (S₈) in drywall via analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). In tests to-date, this sulfur allotrope is a unique and reliable marker in drywall products causing corrosion problems and has only been found in drywall imported from China.

Columbia Analytical has developed an innovative chamber test procedure for the measurement of hydrogen sulfide at ultra-low levels in suspect drywall. To confirm corrosivity, a jar test is used to document copper corrosion in the presence of test drywall samples.

These laboratory tests may be used to confirm visual home inspections and to demonstrate that corrosion effects are due to drywall and not other items in the home, such as carpets, cleaners, paints, or personal care products.

Columbia Analytical is an employee-owned, full-service environmental analytical network with laboratories and service centers nationwide. The company’s expertise encompasses air, water, dioxin, biological, pharmaceutical, and solid and hazardous waste analyses.

For more information about drywall testing, contact Alyson Fortune at 978.501.2735 or visit Columbia Analytical’s website at www.caslab.com.

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Learn more about Chinese Drywall Testing…

Learn more about Low Cost Chinese Drywall Testing…

Learn more about Chinese Drywall Problems…

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Columbia Analytical has completed the implementation of the National Council of Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) Method AQ-S108.01 for the determination of anthraquinone in pulp and paper products.

In response to California’s listing of anthraquinone with Proposition 65, many companies are proactively having their products tested for anthraquinone in advance of the ruling’s effective date. This procedure is currently being performed by Columbia Analytical as written and released by NCASI.

Columbia Analytical has been in consultation with NCASI scientists over the past year in preparation for this action by the state. This preparation enabled Columbia Analytical to be in position to offer the Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) procedure in time for pulp and paper operations to comply with the regulation.

Columbia Analytical is currently analyzing for anthraquinone in samples for multiple organizations.

For more information on anthraquinone analysis, please contact Jeff Christian at 360-501-3316 or Ed Wallace at 360-577-7222.

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Learn more about Anthraquinone (84-65-1) on California’s Proposition 65 list.

Columbia Analytical Tucson Laboratory is excited to announce the arrival of their new LECO TruSpec Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur (CHNS) Analyzer with Oxygen Module and Auto Samplers.

The addition of this new equipment will enable Columbia Analytical to increase capacity for CHNS analyses and analyze difficult matrices for oxygen.

“We can analyze CHNS on a single aliquot of sample, thus reducing the amount of the sample needed. Oxygen analyses can also be performed on organo-metallic samples and samples containing fluorine,” stated Lab Manager Ralph Poulsen. “The instrument is easily switched from CHNS to oxygen and stabilizes within an hour versus up to a day with other instruments.”

TruSpec analyzers operate at a higher pyrolysis temperature (1,250 vs 950C) which is critical in breaking organo-metallic and oxygen bounds and it uses IR detectors which eliminates the need for a gas separation column that is easily poisoned by low concentrations of fluorine in the sample.

“Oxygen analyses times will be greatly improved from approximately five to six minutes to less than two minutes,” said Poulsen. “This new analyzer also supports compliance to FDA Regulation 21 CFR Part 11 and AOAC, AACC, AOCS, ASBC and ASTM approved methods of analyses.”

For more information on micro-elemental testing, contact Ralph Poulsen, Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. at 520-573-1061 or visit their website at www.caslab.com.

The CAS - Kelso laboratory is cGMP compliant and registered with the FDA. CAS’ comprehensive quality assurance and ethics programs ensure that data produced is scientifically sound, legally defensible, and accurately documented. To ensure that your analytical needs are met, your project is managed by one of our in-house project chemists. Our capabilities, expertise, and services include the following:

Monograph Testing – USP/NF, EP, JP, and BP monograph testing. This includes raw material and final product testing. An example of this includes Organic Volatile Impurities testing by USP <467>. CAS can also complete testing using client supplied methodology.

Method Development and Validation – Our professional scientists have extensive experience in analytical chemistry and can assist in method development and validation for pharmaceutical testing. Methods are validated to current ICH and USP guidelines.

Engineering Studies/Process Validation – Scientists at CAS are accustomed to non-routine testing and have the knowledge and resources to solve your analytical problems. Examples of this include analytical support for cleaning studies or manufacturing processes.

Stability Testing – CAS provides analytical support to your stability study testing. This may include assay testing, physical testing, and impurity and degradation product monitoring. This also includes development and validation of stability indicating assays.

CAS has extensive instrumental testing capabilities. CAS’ general analytical capabilities include the following: Karl Fischer, Gas Chromatography, Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry, High- Performance Liquid Chromatography, Inductively Coupled Plasma/Mass Spectrometry, Inductively Coupled Plasma/ Atomic Emission Spectroscopy, Atomic Absorption, LC/MS/MS (currently being installed), and many general chemistry techniques.

Our services will help to keep your turn-around-times ahead of schedule, costs under budget, and most importantly meet cGMP quality and regulatory requirements.

Learn more about pharmaceutical testing…