THE PROBLEM:

Pharmaceutical tablets displaying yellowish stains had been returned to a major pharmaceutical manufacturer. Concerned about product purity, manufacturing problems or product tampering, the pharmaceutical company called MVA Scientific Consultants to identify the foreign material deposited on the tablets.

THE ANALYSES:

Careful lifting of the yellow material from the surface of the tablets allowed analyses by micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) as well as by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), coupled with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS).

THE OUTCOME:

The results of the analyses revealed the yellow material to be a pharmaceutical product not associated with the manufacturer. Detailed microscopical examination of the interior of the tablet showed no evidence of the foreign material — it was confined to the surface. These results indicated that the contamination of the tablet had taken place after leaving the manufacturing site.