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Listen to this articleWhat else is in — or not in — that organic coconut oil, vitamin product or lipstick you just bought?
Brian LaBine could tell you in a matter of days. Next day, if you’re in a rush.
But chances are, he or one of the chemical analysts he employs already knows, because they worked with the manufacturer that produced it.
“Anything regulated by the Food and Drug Administration or anything you put on or in your body” is what Mechanicsburg-based Chemical Solutions Ltd. is capable of testing, LaBine said.
Last month, the independent testing laboratory, which specializes in trace-level elemental analysis of metals, minerals and other elements, logged more than 3,000 samples. The 20-year-old company, which LaBine acquired last May and is moving to Harrisburg this summer, receives raw materials and finished products that companies are marketing to consumers.
Its areas of expertise are natural, nutritional and dietary supplements, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and toxicology, and research projects. It also can test various controlled substances.
“We (mostly) test for the things that shouldn’t be in the product,” said LaBine, with the big four heavy metals being lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury.
They also check to make sure that key elements listed on the product — which could be 50 different components — are actually in it. Just as important is knowing whether there is enough of any particular element that may be highlighted on product packaging.
Analysts can do that with as little as one-quarter gram of a sample. And they can break down results to parts per billion.
Last year, Chemical Solutions, which can test for 68 elements on the periodic table, finished with $2.7 million in sales. Over the next five years, the goal is to double the business, LaBine said.
