This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in providing testing services. Establishments primarily engaged in performing clinical laboratory testing for the medical profession are classified in SIC 8071: Medical Laboratories.
541940 (Veterinary Services)
541380 (Testing Laboratories)
Testing laboratories exist in both corporate in-house and independent settings and include varied services such as assaying; automobile proving and testing grounds; calibration and certification testing; dosimetry (measurement of radiation); film badge service (radiation detection); food testing; forensic services; hydrostatic testing services; product testing; metallurgical testing; pollution testing; radiographing welded joints on pipes and fittings; seed testing; veterinary testing; and industrial X-ray inspection.
As people in the twentieth century became increasingly aware of environmental and other physical hazards, they wanted to know about the quality of two very broad categories: substances that entered their bodies, and objects they came into contact with on a daily basis. In some cases, the constitution and/or reliability of substances and objects can be perceived easily, but the effects of radiation or toxic chemicals often are less immediately apparent or noticeable. For this reason, a broad range of testing laboratories developed in the twentieth century, especially where legislation mandated certain safety standards. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture are the three best-known government agencies with which the testing laboratory industry is involved.
Because of the myriad federal regulations regarding food, drugs, equipment, and general products, testing for all kinds of substances and hazards has spawned its own industry. Food testing laboratories are among the most common testing laboratories. A number of laws directly relate to food: the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; the Fair Packaging Act; Pure Food and Drug Laws; Consumer Product Safety Act; the Occupational Safety and Health Act; the Water Pollution Control Act; the Rodenticide Act; and the Clean Water Act. Companies that produce, package, and market food must be sure their products comply with all of the federal laws governing their products.
Devices that are used in hospitals and doctors' offices for diagnostic purposes, such as X-rays or mammography machines, must also be subjected to a wide range of tests on a regular basis to be sure they are functioning according to specifications and are calibrated properly. Some instruments used for detecting radiation intensity are the well-known Geiger-Muller counter, the Cutie Pie survey meter, and the scintillation counter. Some functions and calibrations must be tested on an annual basis, while others are tested on daily, weekly, or monthly schedules. Hospitals and other medical facilities contract with independent laboratories that provide trained professionals and physicists to perform such on-site inspections and to make repairs when necessary. They also train operators to complete the necessary daily tests that are mandated for peak performance and the optimum safety of both the operator and the patient.
Other laboratories work with the government, medical community, and other industries to provide a wide range of services in nearly every field from automobile testing to forensics and metallurgy. Many facilities feature mobile laboratories out of necessity and offer technicians cross-certified in accordance with the latest American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and military requirements, enabling them to serve in technician, auditor, and inspector capacities.
The history of testing laboratories is a relatively short one. By the beginning of the twentieth century, members of the food manufacturing industry had begun adding untested chemicals to their products. Growing concern about such untested products prompted Congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. This act established the Food and Drug Administration with jurisdiction over the safety of food additives and drugs that were already proven harmful. In 1938, the Cosmetic Act expanded that authority to drugs, which must undergo vigorous testing before reaching the marketplace. Subsequent legislation in 1957, 1958, and 1962 required additional testing and compliance with regulations regarding food, drugs, and cosmetics.
After 1945 and the dawning of the Atomic Age, people realized the dangers of radiation. They also realized that the use of radiation was not confined to warfare; the medical community was establishing a whole new use for the technology. X-rays, although no longer new, were in widespread use, as were the new radioisotopes (for diagnostic purposes), and radiation treatment for cancer therapy. Euphoria over the new treatments was soon tempered by concern, and public demand led to new legislation to set acceptable standards for exposure. Because of all the regulations regarding food, drugs, cosmetics, radiation, and related products, commercial testing laboratories materialized all over the country.
The development of varieties of lab tests seems to change historically along with society's concerns: first it was food, then radiation, and in the 1990s, the environment that raised concern. Thus, previously established labs have expanded their services to include environmental testing, and new, specialized labs have come into being specifically for environmental testing.
American Society for Testing and Material. In 1993, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) inaugurated a proficiency testing program. The program offers services to testing laboratories within all industries in an endeavor to coordinate testing standards worldwide. ASTM is a section of the International Association for Testing Materials and was founded in 1898 to encourage the development of materials standards for the railroad construction industry. Throughout the twentieth century ASTM expanded the scope of its programs and committees from steel and construction materials in 1898, to war-essential materials in the 1940s. ASTM branched into environmental and consumer product standards in the 1970s and established the Institute for Standards Research (ISR) in 1988. In the year 2000, ASTM published its International Directory of Testing Laboratories, listing more than 4,000 testing facilities. These included firms involved in acoustic and vibration testing, biological testing, chemical testing, chromatography, electrical and electronic testing, geotechnical testing, mechanical testing, metrology, nondestructive evaluation, optics and photometry, radiation and ionizing, surface analysis and microscopy, sensory evaluation, spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and thermal and fire testing. Facilities engaged in chemical testing were most populous, while radiation and ionizing testing labs were least prevalent. An overwhelming majority of laboratories were located in the United States and Canada.
LabOne Inc. of Lenexa, Kansas, earned $102 million in 1998, nearly doubling its 1997 revenues. Also in 1998, the company experienced an overall sales growth of 29.5 percent, and increased its employee count by 34.6 percent. Other industry leaders in the late 1990s were Applied Bioscience International Inc., a public company based in Arlington, Virginia, which reported $183 million in sales for 1997; and Farmingdale, New York's Tyree Organization Inc., with $118 million. Market share was widespread, and some 36 companies claimed annual sales of $10 million or more.
"ASTM International Directory of Testing Laboratories, 1999," American Society for Testing and Materials, 12 February 2000. Available from http://www.astm.org/labs/index.html .
Darnay, Arsen J., ed. Service Industries USA. 3rd ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1999.
"LabOne, Inc." Hoover's Online, 12 February 2000. Available from http://www.hoovers.com/ .
U.S. Department of Commerce. 1995 Census of Service Industries. Washington: GPO, 1997.
Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1997.
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Parm