Tool

Certificate checklist

Open the certificate in one tab and this page in another. Tick what you can confirm. A credible certificate passes all five.

1. Laboratory
Is a laboratory named, with an address or contact and, ideally, an accreditation number you can look up? A supplier logo alone is not a laboratory.
2. Lot number
Does the certificate carry a lot or batch number, and does it match the label on the vial you received or the listing you are buying?
3. Date
Is there a received date and an analysis date, and are they consistent with the product being on sale now rather than a report from years ago?
4. Method and result
Does the method block name the technique and conditions (for purity, HPLC with a column and detector; for identity, mass spectrometry with observed versus expected mass), and is the result a number with units against a stated specification?
5. Release
Is the report signed or released by a named analyst or quality manager, with a scope statement? An unsigned, undated document is a draft, not a certificate.

0 of 5 confirmed