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The scope of our testing at a glance

Chemical analysis / harmful substances

Chemical analysis / harmful substances

There are numerous laws and regulations which serve to reduce the presence of harmful substances in consumer products. Statutory legislation obliges manufacturers, importers, and retailers to confirm their compliance with the legal requirements.

Organic analytics

  • Chlorinated phenols
  • Azo dyestuffs, azo colorants (cleavable amines derived from azo colorants)
  • Allergenic disperse dyestuffs/carcinogenic dyestuffs
  • Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (SCCP)/Medium Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (MMCP)
  • Alkylphenols and Alkylphenol ethoxylates  (AP/APEO)
  • Chlorinated organic carriers
  • Dimethylfumarate
  • Bisphenols
  • Specific migration (e.g. bisphenol A, amines, phthalates, PAH, melamine)
  • Formaldehyde
  • Preservatives
  • Perfluorinated compounds (e.g. PFOS, PFOA, fluorotelomer alcohols and fluorotelomer acrylates)
  • Phthalates, phthalate substitutes
  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)
  • Organotin compounds
  • Toys acc. to EN 71-9/-10/-11
  • Screening analytics
  • N-nitrosamines, N-nitrosatable substances
  • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
  • Flame retardants

Inorganic analytics

  • Determination of heavy metals (e.g. Pb, Cd) in consumer products
  • Nickel release (DIN EN 1811)
  • Migration of certain elements (DIN EN 71-3)
  • Formaldehyde in leather and textiles
  • Chromium (VI) in leather and textiles
  • pH values in leather and textiles

Bases for testing

  • German Consumer Goods Ordinance (Bedarfsgegenständeverordnung/BedGgstV)
  • German Chemicals Prohibition Ordinance (Chemikalien-Verbotsverordnung/ChemVerbotsV)
  • German Packaging Ordinance (Verpackungsverordnung/VerpackV)
  • Framework Regulation REG (EC) no. 1935/2004
  • REG (EC) no. 10/2011 Plastics Ordinance
  • Customer-specific requirements
  • Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) recommendations
  • REACH regulation 1907/2006 Annex XVII and SVHC candidate list
  • POP ordinance 850/2004

Electrical safety tests

Electrical safety tests

Electrically operated equipment can pose a considerable risk to life and limb. To exclude such risks as far as possible, the legislature has passed comprehensive guidelines and regulations concerning the safe design of equipment. We will tell you whether your product meets these requirements.

Electrical safety

  • Product Safety Directive
  • Low Voltage Directive
  • Machinery Directive

Eco design

  • Directive for energy-consuming products
  • Energy label, standby consumption

Photometry

  • Luminous flux
  • Color rendering

EMC and RED

EMC and RED

Tests of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) play an important role in ensuring the quality and safety of products. Almost every electric or electronic device generates electromagnetic fields and sends or receives electromagnetic signals. As a result, devices can interfere with one another. A cell phone sending a signal to a cell phone antenna may, for instance, cause bursts of radio static or lines to appear on your TV screen. Although this may be annoying, it isn’t harmful. Under certain circumstances, however, electromagnetic interference may pose a serious risk to safety or even health; if, for example, it affects on-board vehicle electronics or medical products (e.g. pacemakers), causing them to malfunction.

To ensure that radio and other electronic equipment neither causes nor is subject to interference, the EU has instituted statutory requirements for electromagnetic compatibility. These requirements are implemented by mandatory CE labeling and EMC Directive 2014/30/EC. Radio equipment has its own legislative regulations in the form of the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) 2014/53/EU, which rates EMC and radio characteristics.

While EMC describes and evaluates the electromagnetic interaction between devices, EMF (electromagnetic fields) also evaluates the effect of electromagnetic fields on people and organisms and sets limit values accordingly.

Manufacturers and importers must guarantee that their products comply with the new directives. As an accredited and internationally active EMC laboratory in Hamburg, Hermes Hansecontrol is perfectly placed to assist its customers in this area. As well as testing products ready for series production, we also offer tests for the product development phase – letting you stay on the safe side right from the start.

Test parameters (extract)

  • EN 61000-3-2 (Harmonic current emissions)
  • EN 61000-3-3 (Voltage changes, voltage fluctuations and flicker)
  • EN 61000-4-2 (ESD – electrostatic discharge)
  • EN 61000-4-3 (Radiated immunity)
  • EN 61000-4-4 (Burst – electrical fast transients)
  • EN 61000-4-5 (Surge immunity test)
  • EN 61000-4-6 (Immunity to conducted disturbances)
  • EN 61000-4-8 (Power frequency magnetic field)
  • EN 61000-4-11 (Voltage dips)
  • EN 61000-4-14 (Voltage fluctuation)

EMC test capabilities (extract)

  • EN 55014-1, EN 55014-2 and EN 55011 (Household appliances)
  • EN 55015 and EN 61547 (Lighting equipment)
  • EN 55032 and EN 55035 (Multimedia equipment)
  • EN 15194 (EPACs)
  • EN 55011 and EN 61326-1 (Laboratory devices)
  • EN 60945 (Maritime shipping)
  • EN 61000-6-1 and EN 61000-6-3 (Generic standards for residential and commercial environments)
  • EN 61000-6-2 and EN 61000-6-4 (Generic standards for industrial environments)
  • ETSI EN 301 489-1 (Radio communication equipment)
  • ETSI EN 300328 (Bluetooth, WiFi)

Fitness for Use (FFU)

Fitness for Use (FFU)

What’s the point of a good device if it’s difficult to use or doesn’t actually deliver the features that it promises? We will help you launch a product that meets your requirements and can outperform the products of your competitors. To do this, we will subject your device to an FFU test.

There’s no everyday product we don’t test. In other words, we also test TV sets, entertainment electronics, communication systems, toys, and sports and recreational equipment alongside household appliances.

Components tested

  • Document review (MarCo) in respect of compliance with legal requirements
  • Testing for market compliance based on documentation (MarCo) or as part of physical safety tests carried out on our premises
  • Individual tests in accordance with our own test plans, with rating
  • Comparative tests using reference specimens or based on Stiftung Warentest requirements
  • Endurance tests in accordance with customer requirements
  • Assessment of function, handling, and workmanship

Benefits

  • In-house test mark with rating as an effective means of product marketing
  • Helps reduce return and complaint rates

Inspections

Inspections

We closely scrutinise the quality of products and production sites alike, both in Germany and the procurement markets of the Far East. If you want consistent and seamless quality assurance, then inspections are essential.

Inspections of production sites

We assess internal QM processes in respect of:

  • Technical skills
  • Manufacturing
  • Volumes

Product inspections

Product groups:

  • Softlines
  • Hardlines
  • Electrical and electronic goods
  • Toys

We assess:

  • Packaging
  • Storage and transport conditions
  • Gas flushing

Performance Characteristics

Performance Characteristics

The terms “Eco design” and energy label are commonly used when it comes to the performance characteristics of household appliances. This also holds good for us, as these tests are part of our everyday work.

Large household electrical appliances

  • Energy Consumption Labeling Regulation (Energieverbrauchskennzeichnungsverordnung/EnVkV)
  • Eco Design Directive
  • Product-specific standards
    • Stoves, ovens, and cooktops, DIN EN 60350 / DIN EN 50304
    • Washing machines, DIN EN 60456
    • Dryers, DIN EN 61121
    • Washer-dryers, DIN EN 50229
    • Dishwashers, DIN EN 60436 / DIN EN 50242
  • Customer-specific requirements

Small household electrical appliances

  • Household products such as cookware, kitchen aids

RoHS screening

RoHS screening

We can offer good-value tests of RoHS conformity for your products and work materials using a combination of RoHS screening on the basis of X-ray fluorescence analysis and chemical analysis.

Safety and endurance testing

Safety and endurance testing

Whatever they may be – bicycles, electric bikes, furniture, toys, household appliances, or appliances commonly used in daily life – we will test the safety of your products in accordance with statutory requirements or our own in-house methods. We also offer mechanical tests for business and industry.

We provide

  • Tests in accordance with legal requirements, e.g. the Product Safety Act (ProdSG)
  • Tests during the product development phase
  • Safety and endurance tests
  • Tests of physical parameters such as forces (+/- 20kN), torques, lengths, rotational speed, output, or speeds
  • Tests of performance characteristics
  • Quality testing in accordance with market requirements (FFU)

Sensory analysis and LFGB food grade tests

Sensory analysis and LFGB food grade tests

Whatever form they take – be it food storage packaging or kitchenware – materials that come into contact with food must not be allowed to pose a risk to health. It’s for this reason that we test them for the migration of constituent substances.

Sensory analysis

To ensure that constituent substances from your product do not negatively affect the organoleptic properties of food, we will test and evaluate your product for off-tastes or odors.

  • Trained sensory analysis panel
  • DIN 10955
  • DIN EN 1230

Tests in accordance with the food, articles of daily use and feed act, LFGB

  • Total migration
  • Specific migration according to regulation (EC) No. 10/2011
  • Metal migration
  • Metal release
  • Volatile substances
  • Peroxides
  • Extractable components

Bases for testing (extract)

  • German Food, Articles of Daily Use and Feed Act (LFGB)
  • German Consumer Goods Ordinance (Bedarfsgegenständeverordnung/BedGgstV)
  • German Chemicals Prohibition Ordinance (Chemikalien-Verbotsverordnung/ChemVerbotsV)
  • German Packaging Ordinance (Verpackungsverordnung/VerpackV)
  • REG (EC) no. 1935/2004
  • REG (EC) no. 10/2011
  • Customer-specific requirements
  • Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) recommendations

Textile physics

Textile physics

Textile physics forms part of the general quality assurance process for textiles.

  • Fiber composition
  • Color fastness tests for textiles and leather – including fastness to light, washing, water, sweat, saliva, abrasion, chlorinated bath water, and salt water
  • Tests of dimensional stability, seam rotation, and appearance
  • Tests of pilling
  • Tests of abrasion resistance
  • Colorimetric measurement
  • Tests of functional textiles in accordance with ISO and ASTM
  • Zipper testing
  • Tensile strength, elongation, and pressure tests
  • Yarn tests (yarn count, microfiber test)

Test by product group