HOW WE TEST

Eight gates between the bench and your bench.

Every batch we sell is tested by an independent third-party lab before it's offered for sale. Below is the panel — what each test measures, why it matters for research, and how it's performed.

01 · Identity

Identity

SPEC · Mass match ±0.5 Da

What it measures: Confirms the molecule in the vial is the molecule on the label. Every compound has a unique molecular weight (its mass fingerprint); identity testing measures it directly.
Why it matters: Without identity verification, purity numbers are meaningless — a batch could be 99.5% pure of the wrong compound. This is the first gate, run on every batch before any other result is considered valid.
How it's done: Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS). A sample is ionized and the mass-to-charge ratio is measured to within ±0.5 Da of the expected molecular weight.

02 · Purity

Purity

SPEC · Meets compound spec

What it measures: Quantifies what percentage of the contents is the intended compound versus impurities, degradation products, and process residues.
Why it matters: Research reproducibility depends on knowing exactly what's in the sample. Two compounds at the same labeled concentration but different purities behave differently in a study. Below-spec material doesn't ship.
How it's done: Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) against a published reference standard for the compound. Each batch is benchmarked against the spec appropriate for that compound's chemistry.

03 · Net Content

Net Content

SPEC · ±10% of label claim

What it measures: Verifies the actual weight of compound in each vial matches the amount printed on the label. No under-fills, no over-fills, no surprises at the bench.
Why it matters: Even a perfectly pure compound can produce wrong-dose research if the label and the fill don't agree. Net content is the only check that what you weighed out is what you thought you weighed out.
How it's done: Gravimetric analysis: the vial is weighed before and after content removal, and the difference is compared against the labeled mass. Statistical sampling across the batch confirms fill uniformity.

04 · Conformity

Conformity

SPEC · All vials within spec

What it measures: Batch uniformity. Multiple vials are pulled from across the same batch and tested independently to confirm every vial falls within the same specification limits as every other vial.
Why it matters: A single vial passing identity and purity doesn't guarantee the rest of the batch does. Conformity is the check that the result is representative of the whole batch — not one cherry-picked vial — so the COA you scan from the bench actually describes the vial you're holding.
How it's done: Several vials are sampled at random from across the lot and each is run through the panel independently. The batch only passes when every sampled vial lands inside the same specification limits; meaningful variation across the sample is treated as a batch-level failure, not an individual one.

05 · Heavy Metals

Heavy Metals

SPEC · <10 PPM

What it measures: Screens for trace heavy-metal contamination: lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic. These can enter manufacturing through raw materials, equipment, or process water.
Why it matters: Heavy-metal contamination can interfere with biological assays and skew research outcomes. Even at parts-per-million levels, certain metals catalyze unwanted reactions in solution. Confirming <10 PPM gives a clean baseline for downstream work.
How it's done: Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The sample is atomized into a plasma flame and individual metal isotopes are quantified at sub-PPM sensitivity.

06 · Endotoxins

Endotoxins

SPEC · <0.5 EU/mg

What it measures: Detects bacterial endotoxins (lipopolysaccharide fragments from gram-negative bacterial cell walls) that can persist even after the bacteria themselves have been killed.
Why it matters: Endotoxins are potent inflammatory stimuli that can produce dramatic, irrelevant signal in cellular and immunological research. A clean endotoxin number is essential for any work involving live cells, primary tissue, or immune-relevant assays.
How it's done: Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) assay — the industry-standard endotoxin test using a clotting reagent derived from horseshoe crab amebocytes. Results are reported in endotoxin units (EU) per milligram of compound.

07 · Sterility

Sterility

SPEC · USP <71> pass

What it measures: Confirms the absence of viable microbial contamination — bacteria, yeast, mold — in the finished vial.
Why it matters: A contaminated vial can introduce uncontrolled biological variables into a study, ruin a cell culture, or generate spurious results that take weeks to track down. Sterility is the precondition for clean research.
How it's done: USP <71> sterility test: representative units from the batch are incubated in two complementary growth media (fluid thioglycollate for anaerobes and aerobes; soybean-casein digest for aerobes and fungi) for 14 days. No growth = pass.

08 · Fentanyl Screening

Fentanyl Screening

SPEC · Not detected

What it measures: Screens for fentanyl and fentanyl analog contamination. Cross-contamination can occur when manufacturing facilities also handle controlled substances.
Why it matters: Fentanyl contamination is a non-negotiable safety risk at any concentration. A clean fentanyl screen confirms the supply chain is segregated from controlled-substance handling and the material is safe to receive, store, and work with.
How it's done: Targeted screening via lateral-flow immunoassay or LC-MS/MS. Any positive result causes the entire lot to be rejected and triggers a supplier-level investigation.

Every result is published. Every batch is traceable.

The signed Certificate of Analysis for every batch lives in our COA library. The QR code on every vial label opens that batch's COA in one scan — so the test data is always one tap from the bench, not buried five clicks deep on our site.

Open the COA library How it works