BA??? who are they..... oh yeah a commercial airline with aspirations of their own to ensure planes keep flying. According to this article, specimens were sent to various labratories, that is not in doubt. However I am always very dubious about such articles when the person who publishes it are not exactly independent.
As things stand, we now have an agreed level of ash densities where if exceeded, may result in engine damage. The real danger of such an article, which attempts to minimise the risk of ash intake into the engines to the readers, it may convince the powers that be that this ash concentration limit could be raised up and up.
It is pretty obvious to me what challenges we face next....the restriction of trans-atlantic flight. Making reference to the VAAC charts would only remind us of the dangers. This ash cloud is MASSIVE. Restricting trans-atlantic flights, legacy airlines such as the BA (the author of the already mentioned article) would be a massive blow to their income. BA already facing the likelihood of a 20 Day strike due to cabin crew dispute.....it is of no surprise to me at least, BA would publish such an article.