LGC Standards measures up to size with Whitehouse Scientific

LGC Standards has added particle size standards from Whitehouse Scientific to its extensive range of physical Reference Materials. The standards include high quality particle size standards ranging from millimetre to micron diameters.

Particle size is a crucial element in the behaviour and consistency of a range of products. It is important in the production of foods such as spices, cereals and sugars – ensuring your favourite cocoa powder is the right consistency to mix correctly and has the right feel on drinking relies on particle size. From grading fragments for grinding diamond to preparing the appropriate particle size of the active ingredient in a pharmaceutical, getting the size right is a requirement for many processes and laboratories across many sectors need to be confident of its measurement.

LGC Standards includes the Whitehouse Scientific particle size series in a new 2008 catalogue for Physical Standards. The products complement the comprehensive range of reference standards for measuring physical characteristics. Thermal, surface and optical properties, particle shape and size, ion activity, viscosity, electrical, and polymeric properties are included as well as old favourites such as melting point standards and standards for use with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

Dr Matthias Brommer, Director of LGC Standards, said “I am delighted we are able to offer such a prestigious range to our customers. As the leading reference materials supplier in Europe, LGC Standards provides a portfolio of standard and matrix Reference Materials for laboratories in a broad range of sectors. Laboratories across the world rely on our extensive range and technical expertise to help them source the right material, whether they are in the pharmaceutical of food sector, industrial or environmental. Many of them rely on accurate measurement of particle size, and no products meet higher specifications than Whitehouse Scientific’s.”

Dr Graham Rideal, Managing Director of Whitehouse Scientific agrees: “Whitehouse Scientific has been producing precision glass microspheres for calibration for 25 years and is the highest ranking European certification laboratory for primary methods of particle size analysis. Having filled over 1 million bottles using a unique 100 stage spinning riffler system, we are now the world’s leading manufacturer of single-shot glass microsphere standards.”

The reference products are nearly all NIST traceable and range in size from 0.1µm to 5 mm and are available as single sizes or broad distribution standards. In addition to calibration, applications include filter testing, space research, nuclear fall-out studies, micro-engineering and precision spacers.