New service for identifying unknown chemicals opens in UK

A waste management specialist company has introduced a new service to identify unlabelled chemicals throughout the UK, enabling their safe disposal.

CSG has become the UK’s first waste management company to invest in a handheld Raman spectrometer. This cutting-edge technology will enable CSG to help organisations which produce chemical wastes to operate safely and within UK environmental regulations.

Until recently, the only way to discover an unlabelled chemical container’s contents was to open it for sampling and analysis.  CSG’s Raman spectrometer will provide precise, through-barrier identification of hazardous chemicals at their customers’ sites, with no need to open the containers. CSG, a trusted partner, can then dispose of the chemicals safely and in compliance with regulations.

The Raman spectrometer provides quick and highly accurate results on liquids or solids through sealed, clear and coloured glass as well as plastic, opaque containers, or by direct analysis of the chemical when it is in an open container, identifying the chemical from an integrated database.

The analyser works by scattering light from a high-intensity laser light source, producing different wavelengths or colours to determine the chemical. Raman spectroscopy has been a successful history of use demanding applications such as hazmat response, law enforcement and parcel screening at border control; it is widely used for the identification of highly hazardous materials, including narcotics and explosives. The only limitations on the Raman spectrometer are chemicals within sealed containers, such as metal tins, which cannot be penetrated by the laser beam.

Dr Stuart Atkinson, who leads the Lab Chemical Waste Collection Team at CSG commented, “We were recently able to use the Raman spectrometer at a university where we found 244 small containers of unknown chemicals. We completed the job in just three days, correctly identifying the unknown substances for disposal with very high levels of accuracy”.