PUTNAM, CT USA – (September 29, 2017) – Foster Corporation, a leader in medical and pharmaceutical material solutions, has been appointed the exclusive distributor of Lotte Advanced Materials’ Starex® acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and Infino® polycarbonate polymers for the North American healthcare markets. Effective November 1, 2017, Foster Corporation will provide sales, technical and order fulfillment support to customers from their regional stocking facilities in Nevada and Connecticut.
ABS and polycarbonate are used throughout the medical industry for components that require excellent toughness, dimensional stability and surface quality, including transparency. ABS polymers provide a balance of performance, processibility and economics for large equipment housings and single use instruments, such as scalpel handles. Polycarbonate provides superior toughness, strength, chemical resistance, and transparency for applications that include trocars, breathing masks, and filter housings.
Lotte’s Starex  ABS and  Infino polycarbonate  polymers  were  developed to  meet  performance requirements specific to the medical market. These include USP Class VI compliance, ISO-10993 certification, and resistance to ethylene oxide (EtO), gamma and e-beam sterilization. Infino medical grade polycarbonates also withstand steam sterilization and have demonstrated 13% more resistance to bleach in a 24 hour period than competitive polycarbonates.
“The addition of Lotte’s ABS and polycarbonate medical grades expands our portfolio of performance and value solutions to healthcare customers,” said Larry Johnson, Executive Vice President of Foster Corporation. “Lotte has selected us as an exclusive distributor due to our unique focus on medical customers from new product development through production. Accordingly, we intend to offer Starex ABS and Infino polycarbonate grades in 25 kg (55 lb) through truckload quantities.”
For more information about Lotte ABS and polycarbonate polymers for healthcare applications please visit www.fosterpolymers.com.