We thank our business and research partners for their excellent co-operation throughout the last year
and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a successful New Year.

Yours BAM

New Year’s Eve fireworks

It’s New Year's Eve. Set up your firework, ignite it, step back and enjoy the sight. In order for it to remain enjoyable, firework buyers in Germany need to look for only one of three special numbers printed on the packaging since the enactment in 2010 of the EU directive on the placement of pyrotechnic articles on the market: the BAM identification number.

A BAM identification number may look like BAM-F2-XXXX.

F2 stands for class 2 fireworks (18 and over), and XXXX for a sequential number.

Firework items, which fail to show the BAM identification number, must neither imported to Germany nor lit here.

Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Ulrike Rockland, Spokeswoman
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
Phone: +49 30 8104-1003, email: presse@bam.de

We point out that CE-marked category F2 fireworks equipped with unauthorised igniters (e.g. quick match) may be on sale. This refers particularly to fireworks batteries and combinations. Pursuant to the requirements of DIN EN 15947-5:2010 Section 6.2, fireworks must not lead quick match fuses (a fuse cord enclosed in a tube to magnify its burn speed) directly to the outside. When these fuses are ignited, an immediate ignition and an instant start of the function must be expected. The safety distance of 8 m for F2 category fireworks can therefore not be guaranteed. In this context it should be pointed out that dealing with quick match requires an official permit. This is not usually available to New Year’s Eve fireworks users.

Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Ulrike Rockland, Spokeswoman
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
Phone: +49 30 8104-1003, email: presse@bam.de

Showcase prototype on the Exponatec 2011 in Cologne

BEMMA is the abbreviation of a newly developed method for the assessment of emissions from materials for museum equipment (Bewertung von Emissionen aus Materialien für Museumsausstattungen). This method enables tests and evaluation of volatile organic compounds emanating from materials used to build showcases.

In a previous research project six categories of showcase materials (textiles, plastics, sealants, wood, coatings and others) were examined for their emissions. For this purpose ordinary showcase materials were collected, sorted according to certain criteria and classified in terms of their emission potential.

Substances with high pollution potential such as formic acid, acetic acid and formaldehyde must not be emitted from the materials or be detected. The total emission limits for VVOCs (very volatile organic compounds) and SVOCs (semi-volatile organic compounds) were set at 100 μg/m3 and for VOCs (volatile organic compounds) at 500 μg/m3. VOCs are an exception to the sealing materials. Because of the significantly lower contact surface with the interior of the showcases, the total emission for VOCs is stipulated as 2000 μg/m3. If a product exceeds the total emissions or an emission of barred substances is detected, it fails to meet the criteria of the BEMMA scheme.

Another part of the BEMMA scheme covers test methods with their detection limits. The showcase materials will be tested in a micro-chamber at 23 °C and 80 °C for their emissions, though currently the results obtained at 80 °C will not yet be included in the assessment.

This method will provide an effective decision tool for curators, restorers, conservators or specialist planners offered for planning and performance description of exhibition showcases, storage facilities and transport packaging for art and cultural goods.

Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Katharina Wiegner
Division 4.2 Environmental Material and Product Properties
Phone: +49 30 8104-4872, email: katharina.wiegner@bam.de

Tumour markers in tissue sections

A research team at the Emil von Behring HELIOS clinic and BAM have developed a new method that, for the first time, allows several tumour markers adjacent to each other in tissue sections to be detected at the same time.

Tumour markers are endogenous substances whose increased concentration may indicate a tumour. In the new method, antibodies are used for analysis of tumour markers that are marked with metals from the lanthanide group. The chemical composition of the antibody is visualised in an element mass spectrometer. Metal labelling plays a crucial role because this enables the simultaneous analysis of several (metal) detection channels.

Currently, tumour markers are tested in succession to create the profile of a tumour that is the basis for a correct diagnosis. By using such a profile it is possible to see how a tumour is initiated and how it can be treated. Since the successive analyses of tumour markers may take several days, the scientists hope that the new process will enable faster and more accurate diagnoses. Another, already tangible objective of the research is the quantitative diagnosis, i.e. determining how many tumour markers there are in the tissue section – information which can currently only be obtained by a subjective evaluation.

In addition, tissue samples are today assessed in tumour tests by their shape at the cellular level. It is determined under the microscope whether the cells have been deformed or have proliferated in other tissue layers. Even for this assessment, the team developed a new method with the help of scientists from the Humboldt University of Berlin and the Leibniz Institute for Labour Research at the Technical University of Dortmund. For the first time, they succeeded in iodinating cell nuclei in liver tissue so visualising individual cells and their nuclei using mass spectrometry. This iodine labelling method enables the detection of anomalies in the cell of a marked tumour such as an increased set of chromosomes.

Anal. Chem., 2011, 83, 8177-8183 (Abstract, PDF)
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2011, 26, 2160-2165 (Abstract, PDF)

Contact:
Dipl.-Chem. Charlotte Giesen
Department 1 Analytical Chemistry; Reference Materials
Phone: +49 30 8104-5542, email: charlotte.giesen@bam.de

SEM image of the surface of the test sample using four certified Cu-Au alloys and two Cu- or Au highest-purity standards prepared in an aluminium block.

BAM and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, USA) initiated an interlaboratory comparison for the quantitative analysis of the elemental composition of binary alloys in material surfaces within the micrometre range. Nine world-leading National Metrology Institutes are participating in this interlaboratory comparison which is being performed within the Surface Analysis Working Group of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The scientists have chosen copper-gold alloys as representative for analysis of other industry-relevant metals such as iron, manganese, nickel, zinc, platinum, lead and tungsten.

The properties of material surfaces can be selectively modified by varying the elemental composition. To do this, often only very small changes in the composition suffice. To check the elemental composition in the production of such modified material surfaces, accurate measurement techniques are needed. The accuracy of the result is influenced by the measurement instrument, measurement and evaluation software, the sample and not least, the operator. All these aspects are therefore systematically recorded in this interlaboratory comparison. BAM has prepared a test sample using copper-gold alloys certified at NIST. It consists of four copper-gold alloys with different elemental compositions and two of the highest-purity standards gold and copper. The non-destructive electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) has been used as a measurement method. When the sample is bombarded on its surface with an electron beam, the elements emit characteristic X-rays. The energy of this X-ray radiation is element-specific and is therefore used for elemental analysis.

The interlaboratory comparison aims to develop uniform and accurate specifications for the EPMA method, so that the analysis results are internationally comparable.

Contact:
Dr.-Ing. Vasile-Dan Hodoroaba
Department 6 Materials Protection and Surface Technologies, Division 6.4 Surface Technologies
Phone: +49 30 8104-3144, email: dan.hodoroaba@bam.de

• BAM Dissertation Series, Volume 77
  MSc. Guang Mei Wu
  Quantitative Assessment and Optimization of Flame Retardancy by the Shielding Effect in Epoxy Nanocomposites
  (Full text, 5,8 MB, Abstract, PDF)
  2011, ISBN 978-3-9814281-7-9
  
  Contact:
  Dr. rer. nat. habil. Bernhard Schartel
  Division 6.3 Durability of Polymers, Working group Fire Retardancy of Polymers
  Phone: +49 30 8104-1021, email: bernhard.schartel@bam.de