In the AIDIMME laboratories, a quality control of different industrial and/or commercial products is carried out, in which the conformity of the products studied with the reference standards that apply to them is verified. In this way, companies ensure the quality of their products in front of their users.

Another of the works carried out in our laboratories is the characterization of materials with respect to different substances with limited use by legislation. For this, analyzes are carried out with different equipment, depending on the nature of the substances to be studied. A sample of the substances studied in our facilities is listed below.

• Pentachlorophenol
• Bisphenol A
• Creosotes
• Different wood preservatives
• Phthalates
• Different metals
• Mineral oils
• Fluorinated compounds
• Primary aromatic amines

Regulation 1935/04 is the Framework Regulation for all material or object intended to come into contact with food. However, for certain materials (such as metals and wood) specific regulations have not been technically developed. This fact leaves these sectors with a competitive disadvantage, since they do not have such regulations to verify and demonstrate the suitability of metallic and wooden materials intended to come into contact with food in the market.

In AIDIMME, by carrying out several projects, work protocols have been established, together with permitted limit values, to verify the suitability of this type of materials intended to come into contact with food.

In this way, companies in the metalworking and wood sector can compete under the same conditions as their competition in the food market.

Due to the toxicity of formaldehyde, the industry tends to reduce its use in its products. However, in the manufacture of different materials it is necessary to use formaldehyde due to its good performance and the lack of economically viable alternatives. Since the emission of this substance can have harmful effects on users, there are different laws that limit its emissions. From AIDIMME the materials and products are certified according to the criteria of different organisms or governments (European Classes according to CE Marking, CARB-EPA for commercialization in the USA, ChemVerbotsV in Germany, etc.). It should be noted that AIDIMME is recognized by different bodies for the certification of formaldehyde emissions (ENAC, California government, USA government, ...).

Indoor air quality is defined as the quality of the air found inside buildings or rooms. Within these, there is a wide range of materials that are part of buildings or habitats. These materials usually emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the environment of these buildings or rooms and the quality of this indoor air will largely depend on the type and amount of volatile substances that the materials that are part of the buildings and rooms emit. .

Indoor air quality has become one of the issues that arouses the most interest in citizens, being of great importance in the domestic and work environment. For this reason, different classes are included in the regulations in which the quality of the environment can be graduated according to the concentration of toxic substances and legislative limits are beginning to be established in some European countries.

AIDIMME is equipped, both to measure air quality in situ, and to determine the potential and emission of VOCs from materials and products. Likewise, it can collaborate with companies to minimize this emission in various ways, such as:

• Substitution of raw materials for others with a lower VOC load.
• Development of sensors that detect and alert to the presence of toxic compounds.
• Study of manufacturing processes that allow the minimization of the emission of toxic compounds such as formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOC).

In an environment that is increasingly aware of the conservation of the environment, concern about the disappearance of products once their useful life has ended, causing the least possible impact on the environment, is one of the topics in which manufacturers show the most interest. and consumers. From AIDIMME, materials are studied according to different regulations to know their biodegradability, analyzing what improvements can be introduced to increase said biodegradability.

From AIDIMME, technicians are at the disposal of companies to prepare training courses according to the particular needs of each company. To do this, the company must contact the Training Section and comment on the training need so that we can get to work on it.

Topics on which projects have been developed are mentioned below and are listed in other sections.

• Recovery of valuable products in industrial waste or natural fluids for reuse (see Circular Economy R&D Line).
• Development of clean surfaces (see Line R + D Modified Surfaces).