Microtracers

Microtracers™ F (colored uniformly sized iron particles) are easily identifiable "harmless markers" used to assure the quality of mixed formula animal and poultry feeds. When formulated in vitamin, mineral or medicated premixes, a Microtracer™ serves to mark the presence of the premix in the finished feeds.

Microtracers™ FS are stainless steel particles colored with FD&C water soluble dyes or the water insoluble “lake” form of such dyes. Microtracers FS are used primarily to code drugs so they can be quantified in premixes and final feeds. Microtracers FS are magnetically retrievable from feeds via a Mason Jar Test (qualitative), Rotary Detector (qualitative or quantitative), or a magnetic probe (quantitative). They are formulated in animal health feed products such as coccidiostats and therapeutic animal drugs.

Microtracers™ -RF are iron powder colored with water soluble FD&C colors, designed to be used in feeds or premixes. Microtracers-RF may be assayed qualitatively using a Rotary Detector or the Mason Jar Technique in less than one minute in premixes and mash feds and in two minutes in pellets ground to mash. For qualitative tests, the tracer will yield a ring of color on a filter paper, indicating the presence or absence of the product it is coding. Microtracers-RF can also be determined quantitatively by eluting the dye from the tracer, reading its absorbance at a specific wavelength, and comparing it to a set of standard curves.

Microtracers™ SiG consist of silica gel and graphite particles respectively, coated with food grade dyes. They differ from Microtracer F, FS, and RF in that they are not magnetically retrievable, and instead are recovered via sedimentation.