September 14, 2026
What research grade means
Material grades are contracts about documentation, not promises about performance.
3 min read
Materials
Grades, labels, water classes and reference standards: the vocabulary that tells you what a container holds and what has been checked about it.
9 entries
Newest firstJuly 17, 2026
How labs qualify a supplier
Qualification is a record that a source was checked against stated requirements and keeps being checked: questionnaires, audits, incoming tests and ongoing monitoring.
3 min read
July 9, 2026
Light-sensitive materials and amber glass
Light can change a material that temperature and time leave alone. Amber glass blocks part of the problem; handling and packaging cover the rest.
4 min read
June 22, 2026
Working with hygroscopic materials
Some materials take water from the air while they sit on the balance. Handling, weighing and the certificate’s water figure all have to account for it.
4 min read
June 10, 2026
COA versus SDS: different documents, different jobs
One describes a hazard and stays the same from lot to lot. The other describes a lot and changes every time. Filing one in place of the other is common.
4 min read
May 20, 2026
Reference standards and their certificates
A certified value is only as useful as the certificate behind it: uncertainty, traceability, a validity period and the conditions under which the value holds.
4 min read
May 6, 2026
Water quality classes in the lab
Reagent water is classed by what has been removed and how it was measured, and the class only holds at the moment and place the water is drawn.
4 min read
May 6, 2026
What a proper label carries
The identifiers and handling fields that make a container legible after it leaves receiving.
3 min read
April 13, 2026
Reagent grades from technical to analytical
Technical, laboratory, pharmacopeial, ACS, analytical: each grade names a specification and a set of tests, not a level of care you can judge by eye.
4 min read