Description
Identify the Organic Components in Your Chemical Product
Do you need to understand what organic chemicals are present in a cleaning product, solvent, fragrance, coating, adhesive or industrial liquid?
Our Organic Composition Screening service helps Australian businesses investigate the organic composition of chemical products and identify major, significant or unexpected organic components.
This service can help answer practical questions such as:
- What organic components are present?
- What solvents are being used?
- Are there unknown or unexpected organic additives?
- Does the sample contain the organic materials expected from the supplier?
- Are two products or batches chemically different?
- Are there volatile or semi-volatile components that may be contributing to product performance?
- What organic components may need further investigation?
Tell us what the product is and what you need to find out using the form above. We will review your requirements and recommend the most appropriate analytical testing.
What Can We Help Determine?
Organic Composition Screening is designed to provide an initial understanding of the organic components present in a chemical product.
Depending on the sample and analytical program, we may investigate:
Organic Components
Identify and screen for detectable organic compounds in the sample.
This may include:
- Solvents
- Surfactants
- Oils
- Resins
- Fragrance components
- Plasticisers
- Organic additives
- Processing aids
- Other detectable organic compounds
Unknown Solvents & Additives
If a product contains an unexpected solvent or additive, GC-MS or HS-GC-MS may help identify volatile or semi-volatile organic compounds.
This can be particularly useful when:
- The supplier’s formulation information is incomplete
- An SDS does not provide sufficient composition information
- A product has an unusual odour
- A replacement product performs differently
- You need to investigate an unknown chemical component
Organic Fingerprint & Product Comparison
FTIR can provide an overall chemical fingerprint, while chromatographic techniques can provide more detailed information about individual organic components.
This combination can be useful when comparing:
- Competitor products
- Different suppliers
- New and old batches
- Original and replacement materials
- Normal and abnormal samples
Analytical Techniques
FTIR – Organic Chemical Fingerprint
FTIR provides a rapid chemical fingerprint and can help identify characteristic functional groups and major chemical classes.
It can be useful for screening materials such as:
- Cleaning products
- Coatings
- Adhesives
- Resins
- Solvents
- Polymers
- Industrial chemicals
FTIR is particularly useful for establishing an overall chemical profile and determining whether the sample is consistent with an expected material.
GC-MS – Organic Component Identification
GC-MS is a powerful technique for analysing suitable volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds.
It can help investigate:
- Solvents
- Volatile organic compounds
- Fragrance components
- Organic additives
- Residual solvents
- Unknown organic compounds
GC-MS combines chromatographic separation with mass spectrometric detection, allowing individual compounds to be investigated based on their analytical characteristics.
HS-GC-MS – Headspace Analysis
Headspace GC-MS (HS-GC-MS) is particularly useful for volatile components in liquid and other suitable samples.
Instead of directly injecting the entire sample, volatile compounds released into the headspace above the sample can be analysed.
This can be useful for investigating:
- Volatile solvents
- Residual solvents
- VOCs
- Fragrance-related volatile components
- Other volatile organic materials
HPLC – Less Volatile Organic Components
For complex samples containing non-volatile or thermally sensitive organic compounds, HPLC may provide additional information that GC-MS cannot.
It may be used to investigate:
- Non-volatile organic components
- Organic additives
- Surfactant-related components
- Dyes or other suitable compounds
- Higher molecular weight organic materials
LC-MS/MS – Complex Organic Analysis
For more complex samples, LC-MS/MS can provide additional information about suitable non-volatile or thermally sensitive compounds.
It may help investigate:
- Unknown organic components
- Complex additives
- Organic degradation products
- Polar compounds
- Components not suitable for GC-MS
The final analytical technique depends on the chemical characteristics of the sample and the question being investigated.
Why Use FTIR and GC-MS Together?
FTIR and GC-MS provide different types of information.
FTIR is useful for understanding the overall chemical fingerprint and functional groups of a material.
GC-MS provides more detailed information about individual volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds.
For example, a cleaning product may show a characteristic organic fingerprint by FTIR, while GC-MS may identify several specific solvents or fragrance-related compounds.
Using complementary techniques can therefore provide a more useful picture of the sample’s organic composition.
When Additional HPLC or LC-MS/MS Is Needed
Some chemical products are too complex to be fully investigated using FTIR and GC-MS alone.
For example, a formulation may contain:
- Non-volatile additives
- High-boiling organic components
- Polar compounds
- Surfactant-related materials
- Larger organic molecules
- Compounds that are not suitable for GC analysis
In these situations, HPLC or LC-MS/MS may be considered as an additional analytical technique.
The additional testing is selected according to the sample rather than automatically included in every project.
Typical Products We Analyse
This service is suitable for many types of organic-containing chemical products, including:
- Cleaning products
- Industrial cleaners
- Solvent-based products
- Coatings
- Paints
- Adhesives
- Sealants
- Resins
- Fragrances
- Industrial liquids
- Chemical formulations
- Specialty chemicals
- Manufacturing chemicals
If you are unsure what the product contains, simply provide the product information and explain what you need to understand.
Typical Applications
Cleaning Products
Investigate solvents, organic additives and other detectable organic components in cleaning formulations.
This can help when:
- A competitor product needs to be benchmarked
- A formulation needs to be investigated
- A supplier has changed a raw material
- Product performance has changed
Coatings & Paints
Investigate organic binders, solvents, additives and other components that may contribute to coating performance.
Adhesives & Sealants
Screen organic components in adhesive and sealant formulations and investigate differences between products or batches.
Fragrance Products
Investigate volatile and semi-volatile organic components using techniques such as GC-MS.
Chemical R&D
Provide analytical information to support formulation development, troubleshooting and product comparison.
Example: Investigating an Unknown Industrial Cleaner
An Australian manufacturer purchases an industrial cleaning product from a supplier.
The supplier provides limited formulation information, but the manufacturer wants to understand what organic components are present.
A suitable initial analytical program may include:
FTIR
to establish the overall chemical fingerprint,
and GC-MS / HS-GC-MS
to investigate volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds such as solvents and other detectable organic components.
If the sample appears to contain significant non-volatile organic components that require further investigation, HPLC or LC-MS/MS may be considered.
This approach can help build a clearer understanding of the product without automatically requiring every available analytical technique.
One Sample Does Not Always Need Every Test
Not every sample requires FTIR, GC-MS, HS-GC-MS, HPLC and LC-MS/MS.
The appropriate analytical program depends on:
- Product type
- Physical form
- Expected composition
- Volatility
- Complexity of the formulation
- What you need to find out
- Whether a reference sample is available
For example:
“What solvents are present?”
may primarily require GC-MS or HS-GC-MS.
“What is the overall organic composition of this material?”
may start with FTIR + GC-MS.
“This is a complex formulation and GC-MS does not explain all of the organic components.”
may require additional HPLC or LC-MS/MS investigation.
We select the testing program according to your actual question and sample characteristics.
What You Receive
Depending on the selected analytical program, the final report may include:
- Sample identification
- FTIR results and interpretation
- GC-MS results
- HS-GC-MS results where applicable
- Identified or tentatively identified organic compounds
- Chromatograms and analytical observations
- HPLC results where applicable
- LC-MS/MS results where applicable
- Comparison between samples where requested
- Identification of significant or unexpected organic components
- Technical interpretation of the results
The objective is to help you understand what detectable organic components are present and what they may indicate about the product’s composition.
Screening Is Not the Same as Full Formulation Reconstruction
Organic Composition Screening is intended to provide analytical screening and identification of detectable organic components.
It is not automatically equivalent to a complete quantitative formulation reconstruction.
If your objective is to determine:
- The complete formulation
- Exact concentrations of individual ingredients
- A reproducible manufacturing formula
- Detailed competitor product reverse engineering
you may require a more comprehensive Chemical Reverse Engineering / Deformulation program.
If you are unsure which service is appropriate, tell us what you are trying to achieve and we can recommend the most suitable analytical approach.
Price & Turnaround
From $695 AUD + GST
Typical project range:
$695–$1,495 AUD + GST
Typical turnaround:
20–30 business days
The final price depends on:
- Number of samples
- Sample complexity
- Required analytical techniques
- Whether additional HPLC or LC-MS/MS testing is required
- Level of interpretation required
- Comparison requirements
We will confirm the recommended analytical program and quotation before testing begins.
Our Process
1. Tell Us About Your Product
Provide information about:
- Product type
- Supplier information, if available
- SDS or product specification, if available
- Sample quantity
- What you need to find out
2. We Review Your Requirements
We assess the sample characteristics and determine which analytical techniques are most appropriate.
3. Receive a Testing Recommendation
We recommend a practical analytical program based on your objectives.
4. Send Your Sample
Once the testing program is confirmed, send the required sample to us.
5. Laboratory Analysis
The selected analytical techniques are performed to investigate the organic composition of the sample.
6. Receive Your Report
You receive the analytical results together with relevant observations and technical interpretation.
Who Is This Service For?
This service is particularly useful for:
- Cleaning product manufacturers
- Coating manufacturers
- Adhesive manufacturers
- Chemical companies
- Chemical traders
- R&D companies
- Product developers
- Raw material purchasers
- Australian SMEs
- Businesses investigating competitor or supplier products
Why Choose Labsure?
Multi-Technique Organic Analysis
We can combine FTIR, GC-MS, HS-GC-MS and, where appropriate, HPLC or LC-MS/MS.
Question-Based Testing
We focus on what you need to find out and select analytical techniques accordingly.
Practical Interpretation
We help translate analytical results into useful information about the product’s organic composition.
Suitable for Australian Businesses
We provide practical analytical support for Australian manufacturers, chemical companies, R&D teams and SMEs.
Important Information
Analytical identification depends on the characteristics of the sample and the analytical technique used.
GC-MS and HS-GC-MS are particularly useful for suitable volatile and semi-volatile compounds, while HPLC and LC-MS/MS may be more appropriate for certain non-volatile or thermally sensitive compounds.
Not every organic component in a complex formulation can necessarily be identified or quantified using a single analytical technique.
Where a compound cannot be confidently identified, the report may describe it as a tentatively identified or unknown component based on the available analytical data.
The final analytical program will be selected according to the specific sample and testing objectives.
