Car Wash harmful to your teeth!

 In a report from the Sahlgrenska Hospital, we read that there is a risk of dental injuries if you work with car wash and car care.
 
  That acid can corrode the enamel have been known for a long time, but now a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy also determine that strongly alkaline substances can damage teeth.

 

Subjects with high pH can include destroying the plaque so enamel becomes more vulnerable.
 

The study was conducted at the Department of Work and Environmental Medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy and published in the scientific journal Journal of Dentistry.
 

- The study also shows that alkaline substances are harmful to the teeth, but the injury process is different compared to the exposure of acidic drinks or acid vapors in the industry, “said Fabian Taube, occupational hygienic and one of the researchers behind the study.
 

There were no cases of occupational injuries in the car wash and reconditioning, which attracted scientists’ interest. Common to all cases was the exposure of an alkaline degreasing agent that was sprayed on parts of cars. Product proved to have a pH of between 12 and 14, and is very alkaline.
  – Exposure to this medium led to tooth enamel surface was damaged and peeling away. The type of injury makes the risk of tooth decay and other dental injuries increases significantly, “says Jörgen Norén, the dentist and professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy.
  The alkaline degreasing agent used primarily in the food industry, including the cleaning of kitchens, but are also common in the car care industry.
  – Occupational Injuries in the teeth from exposure to alkaline medium is probably not as common as the damage caused by the acidic medium, but it becomes a problem when employers do not inform about the risks or do not provide access to the right protective equipment, “says Fabian Taube.
  The study suffered prolonged teeth for degreasing and other basic solutions. Enamel samples was subsequently examined by scanning electron microscopy and various spectroscopic methods. The researchers note that the rapid dissolution of organic material on the tooth surface, such as plaque.

 

The results suggest that although the organic components of enamel affected by exposure, as the enamel becomes more porous.
  – However, we have been able to show that the basic means changing the composition of the minerals that make up the bulk of enamel. Thus differs from the effects arising from exposure to acids, “says Fabian Taube.
  The study has been supported by, inter alia, Research Council for Working Life and Social Sciences (FAS) and Magnus Berg Walls Foundation

http://www.sund.nu/docs/artikel.asp?td=20091023&tem=0&art=1094

http://www.hallekis.com/xx091022g.htm

http://forskning.se/pressmeddelanden/pressmeddelanden/avenhogtphskadartanderna.5.1d1244e81246c6eab9080002531.html

http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/view/pressrelease/aeven-hoegt-ph-skadar-taenderna-332718

Economic crises in the eastern parts of Europe

One thing that surprised me on this last trip in Romania was that the economic crises didn’t hit eastern part of Europe until just before summer 2009.

We are looking into some  positive progress in the Nordic region with customers who is increasing their purchase of chemicals to their producing lines. We see it in the car manufacture industries and even the ordinaire industries starts to see the light in the tunnel.

The aftermarket has sold out all there used car stock and are now looking into a bit more booked new car sales.

In Romania they are in the middle of the crises and on top of that having a political break down with sitting government leaving there seats.

All though the companies with a strong portfolio could gain market shares as always in crises if the dare to confront it.

I’m glad to say that our partner is such a company therefore I’m pretty sure that we have a good future together in Romania.

Chewing gum

To remove chewing gum from a seat is hard if you don’t have the right technique

Use a freeze spray to remove the upper part of the gum. When it’s stiff just break it of from the fabric.

Then apply No1 Interior 40 in a 10% solution on the residues. Let it work on the gum and then use a stiff brush and microfibrecloth and work it of from the fabric.

To remove the last of the gum use an hot extractor machine and it’s done.

A clean seat.

Back in business

 

So after a long and nice summer I’m back in business. I hope that you all had a wonderful summer with some memorable moments.

Christer Ekstrand

Convention in Spain

I have the fortune to participate in a convention here in Spain with one of the biggest oil company’s in Scandinavia.

It’s all very well prepared and organised and you are proud to be a chosen partner to this company.

 

Today we open the fair where we showed our Bag n´ Box concept along with the CO2 compensated pre-wash.

Both concepts is right along with the hosts environmental valuations.

The success was huge and our Norwegian distributor has a lot of work taking care of all this prospects.

Product development

 is vital for progress in our daily work. We meet new competition, new demands, new markets, new regulations and our own ideas of new concept.

 

To cope with this our laboratory needs to priority our projects.

A project takes between 3-6 months to finalise and get ready for the market.

 

 

We follow a three step process:

• Laboratory tests as the first step
• Small field test as the second
• Full scale test as the third and last one

When this is done our purchasing department needs to look into the supplier if it’s a new one.

All the documentation around a new raw material is to be documented so we are sure that when the delivery trucks arrive we can check out if the contents are what it should be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our producing process we take three quality samples to ensure traceability for least three years.

One of each raw material in the batch

One of the produced batch

The first container that leaves the filling machine up to 2,5 L bottles.

Our warehouse ship some time wrong products to our customers.  All that has been out our facility must be controlled by our laboratory.

 The returning gods is checked of our technicians before their released in to the warehouse again.

Our control system is rescuers demanding but it ensure our quality standards to you as a costumer.

Strange looking keypad in Denmark

The other day I was working in Denmark. When I stopped at Statoil to refuel, I became a little nervous, because my tank card did not work.
I was sure that it was going to work in Denmark, but no…
The card-reader accepted the card, but said the code was wrong, even though I entered it correctly, I thought.
After the second attempt, I looked closer at the numbers where you key in the code.
The figures were not in the same way in which I am used to. The pattern was on the keypad was for me in the wrong way.

In Sweden all numeric keypads which I know of starts with the number 1 on top left and ends with number 9 bottom right. (ATMs, tank machines, alarms, laptops, mobile phones etc.)

What does it look like in other countries?