Lab testing
How to read a certificate of analysis
Learn which details connect a laboratory report to a sample—and why a percentage alone is not the whole story.
Methods & measurement
Lab testing & COAs
Learn how to read analytical documentation, distinguish identity from purity, and keep results connected to the material tested.
Four pieces of the analytical picture.
A complete interpretation needs more than a headline purity number. The method, sample identity and reporting basis are part of the result.
01
HPLC
A separation method that produces a detector response over time. A percentage needs a stated basis.
02
Mass spectrometry
Information about ions and their mass-to-charge ratios can support identity assessment.
03
Batch documentation
A COA should relate the reported tests to the relevant sample or lot. It does not answer every safety question.
Lab testing
HPLC, mass spectrometry and purity
Two complementary analytical approaches—and the important difference between separation, identification and quantity.
Research practice
Evaluating a research supplier
A documentation-first approach to supplier assessment, research-use-only language and laboratory storage records.