Quality policy

Mr. Paul Garcia as Chairman of the Board of LEREM and Mr. Franck Flecheux as Director of LEREM are commiting to provide the means to enforce and improve the 2022 quality policy :

Listening to customer needs

To better understand the explicit or implicit needs and expectations of interested parties. The quality, reliability, precision and speed of the Laboratory’s tests are essential elements of its brand image and reputation.

Keeping qualified staff and resources

The laboratory is made up of qualified staff and control, measurement and test equipment to meet its challenges. The laboratory also has a Quality System which has been assessed and deemed to comply with the requirements of the ISO 9001 version 2015 standard, in its field of application.

Comply with regulatory requirements

The laboratory must prevent the risks of incidents related to packaging safety through actions and relevant communications.

Sustainable waste management

Even though the laboratory generates little waste we are aware that all efforts to limit the environmental impact are important. The laboratory is committed to maintaining an approach aimed at organizing the sorting of waste and managing its evacuation to appropriate recycling or treatment channels.

Our main missions

• Ensure the compliance of packaging intended for the transport of dangerous goods with a view to the issuance of approval certificates for packaging, in compliance with the regulations in force
• Carry out tests for aerosol manufacturers/fillers (flammability, pressure resistance, etc.) necessary to comply with aerosol regulations and the safety of all
• Represent the profession and defend its interests with public authorities and agencies and other professional organizations in France and Europe
• Provide independent expertise to any applicant for any problem or technical question raised during inter-professional or legal disputes
• Develop the commercial activity and improve the financial result

Our objectives

• Improve the satisfaction of our customers by analyzing feedback from satisfaction questionnaires and internal quality indicators, while maintaining the same high level of requirements as in recent years
• Ensure the safety of laboratory members at work
• Establish a project for the evolution of the laboratory’s economic model
• Set up the PHÉNIX research project, which is part of the OLIGO research project
• Establish a new agreement between LEREM and SNFBM

Mr. Jean Baptiste MATHIEU is responsible for monitoring the quality system of the laboratory.

Mr. Jean Baptiste MATHIEU will also be in charge of leading and coordinating the procedures of progress.

Quality represents a commitment for each member of the laboratory. The development of quality policies, communication, risk analysis as well as the respect of the fixed objectives constitute a priority for all.

The Director of the LEREM Laboratory,

Mr Franck FLECHEUX

The Laboratory Technician and Secretary,

Ms Corinne GUYOT

Food contact internal coatings

In recent years, a special attention has been paid to the materials and chemicals used to produce food contact materials (FCMs).

Research is constantly underway to improve the practicality and safety of internal coatings and food contact materials to protect consumers. The Article 3 of the European Regulation № 1935/2004 states that “any material or article intended to come into direct or indirect contact with food shall […] not transfer its constituents into food in quantities which might endanger human health”. This regulation applies to all substances that can migrate from FCMs – starting substances used to manufacture FCMs, as well as so-called non-intentionally added substances (NIAS).

Although EU legislation permits the presence of NIAS in FCMs, a risk assessment involving the identification and characterization of molecules migrating from the material, as well as an assessment of exposure levels, is required. This year, the European Commission re-evaluated current EU legislation on FCMs and concluded that there are “[…] potential weaknesses in the current approach to regulating FCMs”. One of the issues outlined has to do with the identification of NIAS. The problem with NIAS is that even though awareness of the topic has increased, and some studies have been done, not many molecules have yet been identified, making it impossible to accurately assess the risk, if any.

LEREM’s expertise

LEREM supports its adherents and metal packaging manufacturers who want to be proactive and ensure the safety of their materials, and offers to conduct NIAS studies (identification, semi-/quantification) using high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques. Thanks to the collaboration with LABERCA, the PhD in analytical chemistry engaged at LEREM has access to the LABERCA analytical platform, consisting of 18 different instruments. The identification of unknown substances in food contact materials carried out by LEREM will allow manufacturers to anticipate the compliance of the materials used in the packaging they will provide with future regulatory changes.

The LEREM team will participate in the FEA congress 2022 in Lisbon from September 21 to 22.

You can meet us on January 25 and 26 at the Paris Packaging Week 2023. Our team will be present on the Comité Français des Aérosols (French Aerosol Committee or CFA) stand.

Paris Packaging Week 2022

On June 29 and 30, 2022, the LEREM will be present at the stand of the Comité Français des Aérosols (French Aerosol Committee or CFA) at the Paris Packaging Week

Aerosol dispensers

Working with the primary goal of preventing technical problems with new and existing products to ensure the safety of the aerosol dispensers industry.

Aerosol dispensers are the most technical packaging available.  

All the technical details that need to be controlled, in a very large industrial supply chain, must be realised so that, in the end, users can simply press the actuator of an aerosol can and the product is stored and dispensed correctly. 

First, it is necessary to ensure that the aerosol dispenser as a form of packaging is perfectly safe and remains stable over time. Stability of the packaged formula and stability of the integrity of the packaging. For cosmetic products, we often talk about guaranteeing a product for a period of 3 years.

Second, all of this must be guaranteed on a mass production scale. It is estimated that in 2019, 15.5 billion aerosol dispensers were produced worldwide, of which 5.5 billion were produced in Europe. 

LEREM’s expertise

There are not many places of expertise able to synthesise all these constraints. LEREM tries to do this as well as possible, thanks to the means at its disposal.

These various means are :

• Testing or stressing 
• Filling 
• Accelerated ageing tests by impedance measurement
• Storage chambers from 0 to 50°C
• Standard or customised flammability testing facilities for comparison purposes.
• Virtually all the precision measurement equipment required for aerosol dispensers’ assessments : 
  • Weight +/- 0.003g
  • Pressure +/- 0.01 bar
  • Temperature +/- 1°C
  • Dimensional +/- 0,01 mm
  • All the adapted cutting equipment
  • The possibility to carry out resin studies 
  • Software for measuring crimping dimensions
  • Vision system to observe details of valve-housing assemblies.
  • Spray pattern measurement
  • Clogging tests
  • Laser particle size measurement of spray particles – Malvern Spraytech 2000. 
• By the fact that LEREM has a recognised level of expertise and years of experience in this field. 
• Its knowledge of aerosol dispensers’ industry supply chain and its network within this industry.
• Its close relationship with CFA: French Aerosol Association and their agreement established in 2021 for the next few years. 
• By the fact that it is an association of public utility, which guarantees its discretion, objectivity, and independence. 

More details about this subject on the dedicated page.

LEREM represents the industry and participates to fundamental studies 

• The ECORBIO project, which aims to study the corrosion behaviour of piping with heat transfer fluids for the biorefinery circuits of the future using impedance measurement. In conjunction with INERIS, UTC, CETIM, UPJV.
• MPE (Metal packaging Europe) working group and the compatibility studies contained in the passivation processes for tinplate, which by 2027 should make it possible to use only chromium VI-free passivated tinplate. In the field of aerosol dispensers, this concerns tinplate can and valve mounting cups.
• The GDA (Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie) supply chain meeting and the many questions raised by the use of alternative coatings to phenolic epoxy coatings. In the field of aerosol dispensers, this concerns aluminium aerosol cans. 
• Various in-depth studies on existing aerosol dispensers’ flammability results, some of them linked to INERIS, which tend towards new gases development. 
• The OLIGO project – a very recent ANR study on the NIAS for new internal coating generation in conjunction with LABERCA and INRAE.
• Standards at national level at AFNOR (Commission de Normalisation AFNOR/H08F CN8 Emballages), at European level CEN (TC261/SC5 emballage métallique), at international level ISO TC52 (light gauge metal containers).
• Accreditation of LEREM by the Ministry of Ecological Transition (DGPR) with regard to transport of hazardous materials.  

• Parc industriel Européen
• Les marches de l’Oise
• Laboratoire LEREM
• 100 rue Louis BLANC
• 60160 Montataire (France)

• Phone : 03 44 28 56 30
• Cellphone : 06 37 05 21 94 

• Email address: laboratoire@lerem.org
  

In collaboration with the French Aerosol Committee, here is a summary of the points addressed by the french national regulatory assistance service. The new REACH and CLP informations are available in detail in a newsletter available for download at the end of this article.

New REACH informations

Restrictions

• RAC and SEAC advice: Restriction of lead in buckshot, shooting bullets and fishing tackle
• Call for contribution on 1,4-dioxane

SVHC Futures

• Public consultation

Evaluation

• CoRAP: 58 substances for 2021-2023
• Registrants: get ready to comment on the draft decisions about substance assessment (CoRAP 2020)

Registration

• PBT substances and applicable methods of analysis

SCIP database

• Available webinar materials 

New CLP informations

Harmonized classification and labeling

• Ongoing public consultations
• RAC Opinion

Poison control center declarations

• Update of the guide Annnex VIII

ECHA

Integrated regulatory strategy

• “Mapping of the chemical universe” progress

POP

• Public consultation: Pentachlorophenol

AGENDA

The new REACH and CLP informations are available in the attached document.

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The LEREM will attend to the 2021 virtual FEA congress