Beta Analytic - Biobased Testing

Submitting Samples

BETA does not need information which you feel may breach the confidentiality of your product.

Quantities

The quantity of product required depends upon the carbon content and flammability of the product. The quantities listed in the table below are general recommendations.

Non-combustible Fluids	20-30 mls	(0.7+ fl oz)
Combustible Fluids	1-5 ml	(0.04+ fl oz)
Solids	10-20 grams	(0.35+ oz)

Requested information, but not required:

Approximate Carbon Content
Approximate Water Content
MSDS

Important

The laboratory must know if there are volatile components which may be lost during handling.
Accurate analysis requires recovery of all available carbon within the product. If a biobased component is volatile and a petroleum component is not, the measured biobased content for the product will be too low if the volatiles are not recovered in the same proportion as the non-volatile petroleum components. Special procedures are readily applied to handle such samples but the laboratory needs to be aware of the need. (Example: evaporative hand-sanitizers). Note that it is your sole responsibility to provide the laboratory with this information.
The laboratory must know if there are any carbonates in the material to be analyzed.
ASTM-D6866 requires carbonate components to be excluded from the biobased content result. Special procedures are required for materials containing carbonates (See CARBONATES below). The laboratory needs to know if carbonates are a component within your product and discussion must be pursued prior to analysis to ensure accurate results. Note that it is your sole responsibility to provide the laboratory with this information.
The laboratory must know if the submitted material is heterogeneous.
For the analysis to be meaningful, the carbon analyzed must be representative of the whole product. The result itself only applies to the analyzed materials. Heterogenous materials should be discussed with the laboratory prior to analysis to ensure the analyzed material is as representative of the product as possible. Note it is the responsibility of the submitter to ensure the laboratory is aware of heterogeneity issues prior to analysis.
Carbon content of material must be above 0.07%.
It is important to mix well prior to sub-sampling for carbon-14 analysis. ASTM method D7026-04 discusses sampling requirements associated with submitting samples for biobased content analysis. The Standard Guide can be downloaded from the ASTM website

Shipping:

Send samples and Chain of Custody Form to any of the following addresses:

European Facility:

Beta Analytic Limited
London BioScience Innovation Centre
2 Royal College Street
London NW10NH
United Kingdom
Tel: (44) 20 7617 7490
Fax: (44) 20 7681 9129
Email: info@betalabservices.com

North American Facility:
(Headquarters)

Beta Analytic Inc.
4985 SW 74th Court
Miami, Florida 33155
USA
Tel: (1) 305-662-7760
Fax: (1) 305-663-0964
Email: info@betalabservices.com

Japan Representative:

Chikyu Kagaku Kenkyusho Corp.
1-608 Ueda-Honmachi
Tenpaku-ku
Nagoya 468-0007
Japan
Telephone: (81) 52 802 0703
Fax: (81) 52 805 6383
Email: geoinfo@geolab.co.jp