Cleanroom distributor shuts down
01/01/2003
BRIARCLIFF, N.Y.—Sales erosion has forced Hong Kong Batteries Ltd., a distributor of cleanroom supplies and tools, to close its doors.
Revenues of $2,039,543 from Hong Kong Batteries comprised 30 percent of the company's revenues for the fiscal year ending January 31, and company revenues of $64,404 on July 31 represented only 3 percent of the company's overall revenues.
Along with supplies for controlled environments, the wholly-owned subsidiary of SETO Holdings Inc. distributed rechargeable battery packs for power tools, notebook computers and camcorders.—MAD
Fairbank launches 319,000-pound recall
ASHVILLE, N.Y.—Fairbank Farms has recalled approximately 319,763 pounds of ground beef products produced at its facility here due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), no illnesses have been associated with these products, and Fairbank Farms took immediate steps to initiate a voluntary recall after being notified by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) that a sample of ground beef produced by food processor was found to contain E. coli O157:H7.
The recalled products were shipped by Fairbank Farms to retail distributors in Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania.—MAD
Gradipore granted patent
NEW YORK—Gradipore Inc. has been granted U.S. patent 6,464,851 for its core technology, Gradiflow, which removes contaminants from biological samples.
The membrane-based separation technology allows molecules to be isolated with high purity and yield. Gradiflow, according to the company, has shown potential to remove a wide variety of pathogens and is currently under evaluation by biotechnology and blood safety companies.
Robert Lieb, global chief executive and vice chairman of Gradipore, says Gradiflow removes a wide variety of pathogens, including both enveloped and non-enveloped viral contaminants. Certain pathogen removal systems for blood products that are currently in development utilize additives that trap or inactivate pathogens via chemical means, and others require an additional "wash" step to remove the inactivated pathogen.—MAD
IEST publishes guidelines on cleanroom residue
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill.—The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) has released the latest addition to its Contamination Control Recommended Practice (RP) publications: IEST RP-CC016.2: The Rate of Deposition of Nonvolatile Residue in Cleanrooms.
IEST Working Group (WG)-CC016, chaired by Gene Borson of Swales Aerospace, drafted this revision of an RP first published in 1992.
The recommended practice provides a uniform method and basis for defining the rates of deposition of nonvolatile residue (NVR) and other forms of molecular contamination on surfaces in cleanrooms.
This document was developed for use in defining the cleanroom environment. In addition, the guidelines are intended to complement standards on allowable NVR and molecular contaminants on products, such as IEST STD-CC1246D: Product Cleanliness Levels and Contamination Control Program.IEST-RP-CC016.2 is available at IEST's Web site (www.iest.org).