National Testing House expands testing services to consumer products like cosmetics, electronic items

New Delhi [India], September 7 : The National Test House (NTH), a 109-year-old government quality assurance laboratory is expanding its testing services for packaged drinking water, e- vehicle battery testing services, and LED lamp testing services and testing of solar panels, supporting a large number of Government of India programmes, stated a press release by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on Tuesday.
NTH now plans to develop a Nanomaterial testing laboratory that will help in the assessment of the risks associated with consumer products containing nanomaterial, especially in cosmetics, electronic consumer items and digital appliances used at homes, further said the statement.
It is supporting the MSME industry and sellers on the GEM portal (Government e-Marketplace) to provide quality, inspected material to the procuring agencies, be it a small item like a pen or a scientific item like a transformer, said the release.
Secretary, Consumer Affairs, Leena Nandan said that there is a vast market of nanomaterials expected to be developed and used in the consumer industry especially, cell phones, electronic appliances, microwaves etc, whose quality testing work and assurance reporting NTH proposes to tap into the coming years.
Kanjilal further informed that presently, nearly 25,000 samples are being received for quality assurance by NTH laboratories annually of which around 60% are from government agencies, around 20-25% from Private agencies, 15-25% from individuals.
It is worth knowing that the Government Test House, which is now known as the National Test House was created in the year 1912 at Alipore in South Calcutta, and has contributed immensely to scientific theory, discoveries and practical product development, added Kanjilal.