Deformulation/Product Testing
Deformulation/Complete Product Analysis/ Chemical Reverse Engineering
ECA has over 20 years of experience in Product Analysis and Complete Product Deformulation. The goal of this type of testing is usually to produce a complete list of ingredients along with their percentages in the formulation. This report should provide the client with enough information to recreate the product or further modify the product to prepare a product suitable for the needs of the client.
Deformulation or Chemical Reverse Engineering is a challenging undertaking and requires a vast understanding of the type of product and the potential compounds that may be part of the formulation. The more that is known about the chemistry and use of the product, the less time consuming and expensive is the deformulation process. After gathering as much information as is possible from the client, we perform some research to determine any other information that will help us with the analysis and then we prepare a quotation based on the amount of time it will require. We are very cost-effective in this type of analysis because we apply our experience and information obtained from the client to reduce the testing cost before we even provide a quotation.
There are some types of products that are incredibly complex and these may not be cost-effective to completely deformulate. For complex products we can offer a Partial Deformulation that we can use to gather critical information that can be used to develop a product to the clients’ liking. This procedure we call a Partial Deformulation/Product Development and it is used on ultra-complex cosmetic formulations with greater than 40 ingredients or sometimes herbal supplement mixtures with complex mixtures of herbal extracts.
Generally, it is not possible to completely deformulate food products using chemical analysis alone. Taste and odor are sometimes very complex to analyze and recreate. We generally do not undertake the deformulation of food products unless there are specific components that are required to be identified and quantified.
ECA has deformulated nearly all types of products. We are also quite familiar with industrial cleaners, coatings, and additives. The partial list below provides an indication of the wide variety of products that we have undertaken.
Cost: The cost for a complete deformulation ranges from $1000 to greater than $10,000, depending on product complexity and prior data that is provided or accumulated before the quotation is sent.
Products not Generally Amenable to Complete Deformulation:
Food Products
Polymer Formulations
Complex Herbal Mixtures
Natural Biological Mixtures
Hardened or Cured Coatings or Adhesives
Products that we have Deformulated/Complete and Partial
Here are some (1/3 or so) of the product deformulation project that we have completed:
• Auto Carburetor Cleaner
• Mouthwash/Listerine
• Automatic Dishwashing Detergent
• Graphite Release Agent
• Sunjel Fuel Gel
• Waterless Carwash
• Surf Wax
• Sterno Fuel Gel
• Cleaning Wipes/many types
• PCR Buffer Solutions
• Nutritional Supplements/many
• Adhesives/various
• Inks/Various
• Antiscalant Products
• Battery Electrolytes
• Biomaterial /Bone Replacement
• Kidney Dialysis/Dialysate (various)
• Ophthalmic Solutions/various
• Carpet Adhesive
• Dish Detergent/Numerous
• Triamcinolone Cream
• Nystatin Cream
• Enzyme Cleaner
• Ink/Epson/numerous
• Lubricant Eye Drops
• Flower Food Products
• Fog Solution
• Fuel Gel/numerous
• Paracetamol Formulation
• Gain laundry Detergent
• Bravo laundry Detergent
• Hair Conditioner(s)/numerous
• Hand Sanitizer/numerous
• Solvent Cleaners/numerous
• Imidacloprid Formulation/Advantage
• Laundry Detergent/Tide
• Natural Insecticide
• Paracetamol Injection/Acetaminophen Drink
• Silicone Emulsion
• Stop leak
• Stryker Enzymatic Cleaner/various
• Tiger Powder
• Toothpastes/various
• Toothpaste/Ultracare
• Lubricant/Zn Stearate
• Denture Cleaner