Masterbatch aims to help medical device processors using COCs and Tritan

At Clariant, the marketing effort for its most recent development is targeted at processors of medical devices and packaging, specifically those who work with materials such as the Tritan copolyester from Eastman Chemical and Topas cyclic olefin copolymer.

Clariant's new masterbatches are for use in medical devices made from COCs or Tritan copolyester.

Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland) is now able to offer processors of those materials readily available color options that are pretested and compliant with standards governing materials used in medical and pharmaceutical applications. Available under the new Clariant Masterbatches brand name Mevopur, these color concentrates and pre-color compounds are produced in ISO13485 certified plants, using raw materials that have been biologically evaluated against USP parts 87 and 88 (Class VI devices) and/or the international standard ISO10993, and spectroscopically analyzed on delivery.

The new breed of masterbatches is an addition to Clariant's globally available 'ISO10993/ USPVI standard color' range for specialty polyether block amide (PEBA) and those polyolefins. Clariant recently launched this range of up to 17 standard colors for use in, for example, small-volume applications, where a custom formulation is not justified.

The new colors for the Topas cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) were developed to work with the inherent transparency of the material. No dyes are used, eliminating the risk of color migrating to the surface of molded products. Masterbatches and precolored compounds for Tritan copolyester are available in both translucent and opaque formulations. COCs and the Tritan material have gained market share in medical devices as glass continues to be replaced and as concerns linger about the potential harm of Bisphenol A, a chemical used during production of polycarbonate which gathered widespread attention when it was proven to mimic human hormones and possibly lead to negative health affects, especially in babies or fetuses. (Read our interview with the scientist who discovered BPA's estrogen mimicking affect, and here an industry defense of the chemical from Steven Hentges, executive director of the American Chemistry Council's Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group.)

Clariant compounds these new masterbatches at facilities in Lewiston, ME, Singapore, and Malmö, Sweden.