iformula

Latest: Download the new Modular Masters brochure here.

The Science Industry Partnership (SIP) is pleased to announce the launch of its new Modular Masters qualification in Formulation Science and Technology. With Government co-investment of up to £500 per individual module, and delivery via a combination of lectures, e-learning, distance learning, practical laboratory sessions and teamwork exercises, these modules will provide an in depth understanding of formulation science and technology and its industrial importance.

The innovative Modular Masters is designed for employers to address the lack of specific and coherent training provision in Formulation Science and Technology. It will provide employees with the highly sought after skills required for scientific, technical and production functions at all levels. Employees can study part time and select individual modules to form a fully accredited Masters qualification or alternatively select individual modules to support their Continuing Professional Development.

Brief documentation on the Modular Masters in Formulation can be found here. Details of the first three modules have now been announced as follows:

• Design Principles for Formulation;
• Characterisation for Formulation;
• Preformulation Studies – Biopharmaceuticals.

iFormulate and Cogent, on behalf of the SIP, are encouraging any employers or prospective students to register their interest on the course as soon as possible. To reserve your place please email HEOperations@cogentskills.com.

For further information on the Modular Masters you can see below a recording of a short information webinar which was held on 12th January 2015.

Information Webinars for Providers 10^th and 13^th October 2014

 

You may have already heard about the Science Industry Partnership (SIP) and the innovative new Modular Masters Programme in Formulation Science and Technology. If not, you will find further details on the SIP website: http://www.scienceindustrypartnership.com/modular-masters/.

The process to select the provider or provider consortium which will deliver the full programme in collaboration with the SIP has now begun. There are opportunities for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as well as private sector and other educational providers to become involved. So if you are interested in finding out how you could become part of this exciting new programme then register now for one of our short briefing webinars to be held on Friday 10^th October at 11.00 AM or Monday 13^th October at 12.30 PM.

To register to attend, simply e-mail info@iformulate.biz with your full contact details and preferred webinar date. We will send webinar joining details to registrants ahead of time.

We expect the formal application process to open at the end of October and close at the end of November. Final selection of the provider or provider consortium will be made in early January 2015.

We will also be helping provider consortiums to form by sharing contact details and areas of expertise of interested parties. If you would like your details to be shared in this way, please provide (by e-mail to info@iformulate.biz) a short description of topics, expertise and existing or planned relevant educational provision. If you are considering leading a consortium, you may also wish to indicate in which areas you require partners to fill any gaps in provision.

We look forward to speaking with you at one of the webinars.

By Dr. John Duffy, Product Marketing Manager, Rheology, Malvern Instruments, September 2014

Achieving product stability is a critical aspect of ink formulation. Modern inks are typically colloidal suspensions of multiple components in an organic or aqueous continuous phase. The functionality of the finished product relies on maintaining suspended ingredients in a dispersed state, for the life time of the ink, under all the conditions that will be encountered.

Controlling the size of pigment particles is especially critical. Particle size influences the way in which light interacts with a particle and consequently affects the hue or tint of the finished print. Particle size and size distribution may also impact other important features such as print transparency, level of gloss, weather resistance and stability.

Clearly ink ingredients can be added to a formulation as particles of a defined size. The more difficult issue is how to maintain that particle size once all the ingredients of the ink are combined. Stability studies are often not only one of the most important aspects of ink formulation but also one of the most time-consuming.

Understanding the mechanisms of stability

The factors that contribute to the stability of a suspension may be classified as either kinetic or thermodynamic in origin:

– Kinetic stability is associated with particle motion. Increasing the viscosity of a suspending medium slows down particle movement thereby reducing the likelihood of aggregation and sedimentation. Increasing viscosity therefore increases kinetic stability.

– Thermodynamic stability, on the other hand, is related to steric and electrostatic effects. Generally speaking thermodynamic stability is induced by encouraging particle repulsion, either through size or shape modification, or by altering electrostatic charge. However, in certain systems it is possible to increase thermodynamic stability by encouraging particle attraction and the formation of a stable network structure¹.

Many inks contain suspended particles in the sub-micron region. For such small particles Brownian motion is usually significant in maintaining the dispersion. However, as particles become larger the effect of gravity becomes more significant. Gravitational forces will also dominate if there is a significant difference between the density of the dispersed and continuous phase. This is often the case with pigment particles which can be extremely dense, relative to the solvent.

The ratio of gravitational to Brownian forces directly correlates with the likelihood of sedimentation, a defining feature of instability, which can be predicted from equation 1.

[where a is the particle radius, Δρ is the density difference between the dispersed and continuous phases, g is acceleration due to gravity, k_B is the Boltzmann constant and T is the temperature.]

This equation is very helpful for determining a strategy for improving the stability of an ink:

– If the value of the ratio represented by equation 1 is greater than unity then some degree of sedimentation can be expected. This suggests that kinetic stabilisation is required.

– A ratio of less than one is indicative of a stable system. However, any potential for flocculation/aggregation risks an increase in a, the particle size, and a swing towards kinetic instability. A ratio of less than one therefore puts the focus on safeguarding thermodynamic stability.

The power of three

This rationalization of stability highlights three properties of an ink formulation that can be manipulated to control ink stability:

– particle size of the dispersed phase

– viscosity of the continuous phase or the suspension

– zeta potential of the system

These parameters are inter-related and cannot be manipulated in isolation. For example, changing particle size will impact the viscosity of the overall suspension. Furthermore these parameters influence not just stability but also other aspects of ink performance such as jet-ability (which is related to suspension viscosity) and finish (particle size). Achieving the desired stability is therefore a complex optimization challenge ring fenced by multiple constraints.

An efficient analytical strategy helps formulators to tackle this challenge in a systematic and effective way. In combination, particle size analysis, rheological characterization and zeta potential measurement provide a foundation for such a strategy.

Particle size analysis: Particle size measurements are helpful during the production of ingredients for an ink, during milling for example, as well as supporting stability studies. The particle size range of ink components spans the nanometer/micrometer range and can be met through the application of laser diffraction particle size analysis or dynamic light scattering (DLS) techniques. A modern laser diffraction analyzer will robustly measure from the 0.01 to 3500 µm while DLS instruments offer measurement in the 1 nm to 1 micron range.

Rheological characterization: Simple viscosity measurements will support stabilization studies but more broadly rheological studies can help with a number of other aspects of ink formulation. For example, rheological data support the formulation of inks that jet and break up into droplets in a precisely defined way, under the shear conditions applied by a specific nozzle design. Equally importantly, rheological measurements enable a formulator to engineer shear thinning behaviour. An ink that shear thins jets easily but then becomes more viscous when deposited on the substrate, resisting dripping.

Accessing relevant rheological information relies on measuring under the conditions that will be applied during product use. Low shear measurements are most relevant for stability studies, while high shear data more closely reflect behaviour in a jet or nozzle. State of the art rotational rheometers enable the application of different test strategies over a very wide range of shear stress/strain and are routinely applied in ink formulation. However, there are relatively new complementary techniques that usefully extend rheological measurements into areas not accessible with rotational rheometry.

Microrheology, for example, supports the rheological characterization of low viscosity, weakly-structured complex fluids at very high frequencies. It provides detailed insight into the viscoelastic response of a complex fluid, which for inks can be valuable for evaluating jet-ability. Microfluidic rheometry, on the other hand, is an efficient method for measuring viscosity in the ultra high shear region. Again such data is highly relevant to performance at the print head

Measuring zeta potential: In an electrically charged suspension, particles will only approach one another, and cohere, if they have sufficient energy to overcome the repulsive forces that act to keep them separate. Zeta potential is the potential at the slipping plane, the interface between the particle and associated double layer, and the surrounding solvent. Zeta potential measurements therefore quantify the magnitude of repulsive forces in system and the impact of strategies applied to modify it, such as changing pH.

If a suspension has a large negative or positive zeta potential then the particles within it will tend to successfully repel each other. Low zeta potential values, in contrast, increase the likelihood of flocculation. The dividing line between stable and unstable suspensions is generally taken as ±30 mV. Systems with zeta potentials outside of these limits tend to be thermodynamically stable. Zeta potential measurements therefore support the development of thermodynamically stable inks in the same way as rheological characterization supports the formulation of inks that are kinetically stable.

One final point to note when investing in instrumentation to measure zeta potential is that the combination of optical components that make up a highly specified DLS system also lend themselves to the measurement of both zeta potential and microrheology. Advanced DLS instruments such as the Zetasizer Nano ZSP from Malvern Instruments can therefore deliver a trio of measurement types that are relevant for ink formulation.

Further reading

To find out more about analytical strategies that are helpful in ink stability studies please refer to: ‘Keeping you in suspense’ by John Duffy and Steve Carrington an article published in August 2012 in Paints and Coatings Industry magazine. This can be viewed at the Malvern Instruments website.

For an introduction to microrheology see the Malvern website.

For help with understanding the capabilities of DLS systems:

An Introduction to Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) | Malvern Panalytical

Zeta potential – An introduction in 30 minutes | Malvern Panalytical

By Jan Gorgol, Surface Measurement Systems Ltd, July 2014

Moisture affects a huge range of diverse materials in formulation research areas. For example, drug formulation performance can be critically affected by humidity changes leading to phase changes, hydration, crystallization and deliquescence of pharmaceutical powders.Other areas affected by humidity include solubility, hydrate/solvate formation, packaging, powder flow, tablet testing, aerosol and inhalers.

One of the many tools used to characterise the effects of moisture in formulation is microscopy , ranging from common microscopy using dark-field, bright field or cross-polarisation through to Raman, FTIR microscopy and more esoteric imaging techniques such as Atomic Force Microscopy , 3D X-Ray Tomography or even photo-acoustic microscopy (PAM).

In this article we present some case studies to highlight how different kinds of microscopy can be effectively used to study the effects of moisture humidity on real life formulation situations.

1. Crystallisation

Studies of crystallisation of amorphous samples under humidification include hydration of stable and unstable hydrates, deliquescence and liquefaction of hygroscopic samples, co-crystallisation and solvate desorption at high humidities. Polarized light microscopy and birefringence can be used effectively to study crystal morphological growth. Polymorphism can be studied by Raman, FTIR, and light microscopy (ref 1).  Light microscopy of amorphous lactose crystallisation with humidification can be combined with Raman data to show the change from amorphous to crystal state with increasing RH.

Raman Spectra of Amorphous Lactose Crystallisation:

2. Drug Development Studies

The behaviour and stability of potential drug candidates on exposure to water are critical in deciding which candidates are taken forward in drug development studies. Gravimetric techniques such as Dynamic Vapor Sorption (DVS) can be combined with FT-IR and a humidity cell to gain deeper understanding of the molecular changes occurring. This helps in the development of drug candidates with optimal stability / performance.

Naloxone HCL (an anti-narcotic substance) was used as a model system to study the effects of moisture sorption on active drugs.The water sorption and desorption isotherms showed jumps in the water uptake at 10% and 60% RH corresponding to formation of the mono and dihydrate. IR Intensity versus RH plots of these two peaks corresponding to the asymmetric water stretching frequencies at 3518 cm-1 and 3421 cm-1 showed a jump in intensity at 10% and 60% RH. These two jumps correspond to formation of the mono- and dihydrate forms and agree well with the gravimetric data.

3. Food

Effects of humidity on flowability of lactose due to changing amorphous and crystalline content were studied using Raman and light microscopy. Effects of humidity on dry milk powders were measured using light microscopy (ref 2).

R: Photographs of Milk powder at 64%, 81% and 85% RH:

4. Skin:

Using Raman microscopy combined with a humidity cell it is possible to image skin sections of skin/drug preparations to determine speed of adsorption of the drug, evaluate wound healing therapeutics and study skin ageing related to hydration.

5. Carriers:

Adhesion between drugs and their carriers with amorphisation due to humidity have been studied using atomic force microscopy.

R: Light microscopy of PVP drug carrier showing swelling and coalescence at humidity

Summary:

These are just a few areas where microscopy can be usefully used to study the effects of changing humidity on real life formulation samples. To help meet the many needs of scientists and technicians in these areas, Surface Measurement Systems have developed an environmental microscopy cell GenRH-Mcell (ref 3) to enable precise critical humidity microscopy studies in situ. Additionally, humidity critical studies can be undertaken via a variety of instrumentation by providing humidity generation as an add-on to other techniques such as XRD, 3D X-Ray Tomography, DMA, TGA, DSC, rheology, contact angle, aerosol EDB, optical tweezers, traps, particle sizing, and QCM. Conditioning regimes such as mechanical and texture testing, ball-milling, powder compaction, spray drying, freeze drying, and powder flow can also be emoployed.

If you have any humidity generation needs or questions in such areas please feel welcome to contact the author or join our Open LinkedIn discussion group on Humidity generation as an add-on.

About the author: Jan Gorgol (jgorgol@surfacemeasurementsystems.com) studied Physics at Bristol University followed by a Masters at Brunel University while working with XPS & SEM at the Experimental Techniques Centre. After working extensively in surface science instrumentation globally he now is Product Manager for the GenRH series of humidity generation products at Surface Measurement Systems.

References

 1. Dependence of cocrystal formation and thermodynamic stability on moisture sorption by amorphous polymer. David Good, Crystal Miranda and Naír Rodríguez-Hornedo: CrystEngComm, 2011,13, 1181-1189.

2. Surface Measurement Systems, Application Note 503 – Investigating Dried Milk Powders Using Optical Microscopy at Different Humidity Conditions.

 3. Surface Measurement Systems, Application Note 501 – Environmental Microscopy using the GenRH-A Humidity Generator and Mcell Accessory.

As scientists, all formulators have an inherent trust of data. As long as the data has been validated, then we expect objective decisions to be made and a project to proceed, or not, on the basis of hard data. However, a number of recent events have called into question, in my mind at least, the absolute validity of this when it comes to regulation and I am coming round to the view that emotions play just as large a role in some arenas.

So I’ve stepped onto my soap box and decided to explore the role of trust in subjects such as fracking, probiotics, GM crops, REACh and, most topically, the World Cup.

Fracking is a very hot topic in the UK with the government pushing hard for initial survey work which if promising, they would hope will lead to perhaps lower gas prices, but probably more importantly more energy security. Those vehemently against fracking claim that it will pollute water courses, initiate earthquakes and blight the countryside amongst other issues. One company local to where I live, has an exploratory permit to drill for oil and have issued a press release stating that they will not, and indeed are not permitted to “frack”. The environment agency and politicians have also said that there is no permission to “frack” but has this stopped a camp being set-up? Of course not! I am planning a press release saying that I am not going to build a nuclear power plant in my back garden, so am expecting some visitors in the near future!

In a recent article for “News and Views”,we explored issues that the producers of probiotic products have had with the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) and the lack of accepted health claims for these products. Many reasons have been given for this, and the real problem is that, in the view of EFSA, the claims are not yet substantiated. They are not saying that the claims are incorrect, just that they are not proven, but I am now left to wonder if the consumer in Europe will believe future probiotic claims if they are ever granted. Does the consumer now believe that probiotics are “not safe”? A long battle lies ahead I believe. Will the probiotic industry in Europe be affected by delays in a similar way to the GM industry when the EU dithered over the GM potato, resulting in BASF stopping commercial activities in Europe in 2012?

One of the reasons for the introduction for the harmonised chemical regulation REACh in Europe was to prevent each country, or company in some cases, producing their own arbitrary blacklist of chemicals. The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) is intended to be the final arbiter and to be trusted to make correct decisions based on an agreed set of data. Has this happened?

What is my point in this “rant”? I’m not sure myself but I am convinced that scientists and formulators can no longer simply rely upon data and the regulators to come to a decision about their products. They must make their case to a wider audience and play on “softer” issues with the public, or some significant developments will not make it to the market.

Finally on the element of trust. We come to the World Cup. Trust in FIFA seems to be at an all-time low but does not seem close to resolution. I can assure you of one fact though for certain over the next month. England will miss a penalty – or two or three or four – and will unfortunately come home saying “Could have been!”

Maybe I will be wrong and you will never trust me again. If that is the case, what a night it will be on Sunday 13^th July!

David Calvert – June 2014

Many professionals involved in product formulation will come across spray drying technology or spray dried products at some stage in their career. Perhaps the physical form of a product needs to be optimised to increase particle size and reduce dust, or perhaps plant capacity utilisation needs to be improved. How can the practitioner start to tackle such problems, especially when he or she may have no formal training in the subject? Delegates at the new two-day training workshop “Spray Drying and Atomisation of Formulations”, run by the University of Leeds on 8^th-9^th April with support from iFormulate and ProCept, were able to answer these questions and many others.

Spray drying may seem a pretty simple process, but in fact there are a large number of factors which can be varied and these will all have an influence on the final product. With spray drying it often helps to start at the end of the process and decide what kind of end-product is needed. For instance, if a granular product is required, then it may be possible to agglomerate finer particles in the spray drying tower. The desired particle morphology and size, as well as productivity concerns, will in turn influence the drying parameters (residence time, temperature) and materials properties (solids content, rheology). Moving further back in the process, the fluid to be dried must have suitable rheology for fluidisation, pumping and atomisation.

With guidance from a diverse group of expert presenters and engaging laboratory demonstrations, attendees at the Workshop benefited from a packed programme that covered each of the main process steps in spray drying and provided case studies of applications from a number of different industries. In fact the wide range of industry applications represented amongst the speakers and attendees was very striking and included pharmaceuticals, food/beverages, detergents, catalysts and agrochemicals.

The training workshop was highly rated by both attendees and speakers and it is planned to hold it again in March 2015. Meanwhile the programme for the 2014 event is available on https://iformulate.biz/training-and-events/spray-drying-and-atomisation-of-formulations/.

Jim Bullock, May 2014

E: jim@iformulate.biz

The word Probiotic comes from the Latin and Greek words meaning “for life”.  At the recent World Congress of the International Probiotics Association in Athens, papers were presented which showed the potential for probiotics to prevent or cure diseases as diverse as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema, weight loss, weight gain, depression and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, amongst others. Probiotics can be found in tablets, capsules, yoghurts, ice cream, coffee, tea, fruit juice, bread, gummi bears, cheese and even sausages. As one delegate ironically asked, when will we see the world’s first probiotic car?

So against this mountain of scientific and commercial activity, why has the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) rejected all the health claims from the probiotic producers? Also why has the European Commission even advised that the word probiotic should not be used on any packaging? Is this a case of protecting the consumer, or as one delegate stated “striving for perfection whilst ignoring the good”?

In this article, I’ll take a quick look at the issues discussed during the congress and also discuss what the role of formulation is, if any, in the future development of probiotics.

Over 150 delegates attended the Congress and one could not fail to be impressed at the breadth, depth and quality of the work presented. Even the speaker from EFSA, Professor Ambroise Martin, admitted that with all the good scientific data at their disposal, there is little doubt that probiotics can play a role in maintaining health and in some cases curing or preventing a number of diseases. The issue with the health claims submitted to EFSA has many facets, stemming from initially not correctly defining the strain of the probiotics (not all species and strains of probiotics are created equal), to a lack of properly designed (in the view of EFSA) studies and a lack of human studies.

So what about formulation? Well one of the presentations from DuPont entitled “Probiotics- does the matrix matter?” concluded that they did not know. This causes some consternation with the EFSA delegate who wondered if this was an extra complexity that they would need to consider in future health claims? In my view, there should be “primary” evidence which shows that the specified probiotic strain does have a beneficial effect and then a demonstration that if formulated/incorporated correctly in the foodstuff, then it is delivered to the correct part of the body where it will be of benefit to the consumer. It would be, in my opinion, a mistake if a strain was given blanket approval in all foodstuffs.

As for other areas, well probiotics are living organisms and by their nature can be unstable to pH, heat, processing etc, so encapsulation and other stabilisation mechanisms will, and do already, play a role in protection of probiotics. There are some exceptions to this with spore formers that have an inherent stability. The interaction with other ingredient in the formulation seems rife for further work and was discussed in “The Art of Probiotic Formulation” workshop.

It will certainly be interesting to follow the development of probiotics as they start to define whether they are food, pharma, or, as is likely to be the case, both. Will EFSA be the exception and remain marginalised or will other regulators take their strong line against health claims in foodstuffs? Will the relevant Greek saying be “I know one thing, that I know nothing!”, or as Archimedes famously stated “Eureka!”?

David Calvert, May 2014

E: david@iformulate.biz

As part of their popular new event series “Whats the Future”, YCF have announced  the seminar “What’s the Future for Pharma?” to take place on 10th June 2014 at the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre in Huddersfield, UK.

This event, sponsored by  HGF Limited and Elaflex Ltd will enable attendees to hear from hand-picked, top professionals in the pharmaceutical industry, provide ample networking opportunities as well as share experiences, knowledge and challenges with industry peers.

Confirmed presentations include:

• Trends in science and technology (the changing demands of pharmaceutical development groups): Dr Marcel de Matas, AstraZeneca
• Discovery of new naturally-derived medicines & routes to market: Dr Robert Nash, Phytoquest
• IP Considerations for Personalised Health Inventions: Dr Stewart Eccles, HGF Limited
• Is the Future of all Pharmaceuticals to fall off the Patent Cliff?: Mike Nelson, HGF Limited
• Cell Therapies for Regenerative Medicines: Professor John Hunt, The Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease

Further presentations will be announced shortly – please visit http://www.ycf.org.uk/events/whats-future-pharma to register and for updates. A small number of table top exhibition spaces are also available.

The printed image has been a principal source of information, education and entertainment for the human mind probably since Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1450.  We may never really consider it, but what is the principal conduit for transferring this information from the printed page to our brain?  It is of course our eyes.

Thanks to increased computing power and technology improvements   digital printing has made great leaps forward over recent years in terms of displacing traditional printing methods such as offset lithography and flexography.  In fact ink jet is now the leading digital printing technology and thanks to these continuing improvements is expanding rapidly into new markets and applications, to the extent that it is hard to say exactly what share of the printing market is currently held by ink jet, but it is very significant.

In traditional graphics printing ink jet shows a particular advantage in short run variable printing where the cost per page is much lower for digital printing.  However I think it is still true to say that for long run printing the traditional technologies, particularly offset lithography, remain dominant.

However amazing new research has recently been published by a group of researchers in Cambridge where ink jet technology could be utterly dominant.  Traditional technology and even other digital processes like electrophotography would be completely useless.

What is this printing application?  To my mind it is beautifully ironic given the tools we have been using for centuries to read printed output.  It is the ink jet printing of eye cells.  This work, if successful, could lead to the production of artificial tissue grafts made from the variety of cells found in the human retina, and may well be a valuable aid in the search to cure blindness.

What a marvellous ground breaking development in the history of inkjet technology.  It makes its original uses to print sell-by dates on packaging and eggs, or to print documents and photos in our home, seem so very mundane.  More information on this work, and a link to the full article in the journal Biofabrication, can be found at http://www.forbes.com/sites/bridaineparnell/2013/12/18/scientists-make-more-eye-cells-with-an-inkjet-printer.

I have spent many years in my career formulating ink jet inks for a variety of printing applications. Two of the key properties that need to be carefully controlled for a fluid to print well from an inkjet print head are viscosity and surface tension.  Although this research shows that the applications have moved on to a whole new level compared to the dyes and pigments of my experience, I felt a certain satisfaction on reading that the age old issues of viscosity and surface tension remain, and in fact are greatly exacerbated by the introduction of living cells into the “inks”. So there is still some role for the formulators in this fast moving technology area.

Finally, I am looking forward to helping deliver the iFormulate Ink-Jet Formulation Workshops in June and September. If you have any questions on the content of those workshops, please contact me on mark@iformulate.biz or via info@iformulate.biz.

Mark Holbrook, February 2014

Photo Credit: Desirae via Flickr

This was the rather inventive title of a talk which I attended a few weeks ago. It was given by Dr Liam Herringshaw of Durham University who is part of a research consortium called ReFINE which has been set up to look independently at the topical and controversial subject of fracking. The ReFINE website is well worth a look and keeping track of, and part of it got me round to thinking about what role, if any, formulation will play in the wider implementation of the technology outside of North America.

One of the key concerns around fracking is leakage of chemicals into the water aquifers. The integrity of the well is perhaps the most critical element in preventing this. The formulation of the so-called fracking fluid will also no doubt be a key factor. Most fracking fluids are 98% water but the other elements have much of the functionality seen in formulations from other sectors. The components added include friction reducers (rheology modifiers), biocides, corrosion inhibitors, crosslinkers, and acids to remove drilling mud damage near the wellbore area. Formulations also include a so-called propping agent which is required to stop the induced fractures from closing up. This is now commonly silica sand which must be a vast improvement on the cement pellets coated with asbestos which Exxon patented in 1975! There has been some recent discussion as to whether patents will negatively impact on the availability of information to determine the environmental impact of fracking fluids.

According to that article, there were on average fifty patents per year on hydraulic fracturing between 1981 and 2003 with this increasing significantly to an average of over 150 per year between 2004 and 2010 in the US. The article makes the point that knowing what chemicals can be used and what is actually used can be difficult. The authors are particularly concerned about the environmental impacts. As fracking becomes more common in Europe, then the much maligned REACH regulation will be of value in providing this information via the extended Safety Data Sheets. Still care will need to be exercised and formulation and ingredient knowledge from a range of sectors will be required.

We will be monitoring how fracking and formulation develop over the next few months and will be writing more in-depth summaries in future newsletters and on this website.

David Calvert, November 2013