BOSTON - Two leading manufacturers of product measurement and quality control equipment - EGS Gauging Inc. of Billerica, Mass., and NDC Infrared Engineering, Inc., of Irwindale, Calif. - have been awarded funding by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop new technologies that reduce industry's reliance on radioactive isotopes. Under an EPA grant, the Product Stewardship Institute, Inc., (PSI), Boston, assisted the agency in initiating this project and soliciting proposals, and will help gain acceptance in the marketplace for the technologies through multi-stakeholder involvement.

Many gauges and sensors in use today use small amounts of radioactive materials to measure parameters such as density, thickness and moisture content in a wide variety of industrial manufacturing applications. The goal of the projects is to reduce or eliminate the use of radioactive isotopes in two common industrial applications, and ultimately reduce the potential for improper disposal of radioactive devices.