​The Crucial Role of Analytical Standards in Health, Disease, and Commerce

Background

The analysis of chemicals in samples and its importance in society can not be understated, and the instrumental analysis techniques used across all fields of science rely on the use of accurate and pure materials called analytical standards-substances and chemicals used to define unknown compounds in a mixture and to accurately determine their concentrations. 

Analytical standards are used for determining whether instruments are qualified and calibrated properly, for analytical method validation, whether the method is even suitable for analysis, and to perform analysis of samples used in medicine, patient diagnosis, and on products used routinely in commerce. Without such quality control checks using analytical standards our quality of life would suffer immensely, and since the development of standards and analytical techniques mankind has progressed into a scientific age where medicines, food and water, and everyday consumer goods have been made safer, more uniform and enhancing the public health.

Regulatory Testing 

In the US, regulatory science develops new methods, tools, and standards to assess the safety and quality and usefulness of all Food and Drug Administration FDA regulated products, giving all of us access to medicines and products that are safe and effective throughout their Total Product Life Cycle (TPLC) where pre-market and post-marketing studies compile data on products from inception to widespread use in the consumer field monitoring adveres product events which could lead to product recalls . 

Chemical reference standards are regulated by non-governmental agencies in the US and abroad, and are certified by leading pharmacopoeias such as the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), the European Pharmacopoeia (EP), and the British Pharmacopoeia (BP). Other agencies on an international level include the Beverage Alcohol Manual  (BAM), the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Measuremnt Institute of Australia (NMI Australia) and European Commission's Joint Research Centre (IRMM/BCR), all working to insure that products conform to standards and that adulterated, contaminated or unstable products do not reach the marketplace, and that their safety is recorded and well documented. 

To highlight the most prominent regulatory agency in the US, the US Pharmacopoeia (USP) role is to assure accuracy and reproducibility in pharmaceutical manufacturing, where USP reference standards decrease the risk of product rejection (ANDA warnings) by the FDA. The USP has created a growing catalog of hi-purity reference standards for active pharmaceutical ingredients (drugs or APIs), formulation reagents and adjuvants, dietary supplements and priority consumer chemicals. 

The standards from USP and others are used extensively to assure the safety of food, drugs and water, assure environmental standards and regulations are compliant, and provide guidelines and documentation essential to trade and commerce. Additionally, analytical standards and methods support legal inquiries and processes of the court system and in medicine can help diagnose and substantiate disease states in patients.

Drinking Water Analysis 

The use of analytical standards in environmental and exposure analysis is also crucial to determining the safety of the water we drink, for example, in the US Great Lakes Basin and watersheds, its been found that drinking water contaminants are commonly found, and while the 30 or so EPA analytes are routinely measured and reported by your public local water administrators, there are thousands of chemicals still in the Great Lakes waters (and water in general) that are present, and compounds in the phthalate, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, or flame-retardant classes are noted, and all of these compounds are assayed using certified analytical standards.

More recently, the effects or organophosphates used in agriculture, and farm field runoff of nutrients, has led to Lake Erie algae blooms, creating toxic biofilms and algae masses and leading to water quality and safety issues in the western end of the lake, while algae toxins such as microcystins can enter drinking water supplies in communities utilizing water from Lake Erie. These algae toxins can also bioacculmulate in aquatic species as well, and cyanobacterial blooms can produce the algae toxin MC-LR, which is the most prevalent toxin found in Lake Erie water and in the tissues of walleye, and yellow and white perch, all commercially and recreationally important fishes.

Currently, while these toxins have been found and in high levels, these liver toxins and tumor promotors such as MC and its other forms are not regulated by the EPA nor have they addressed this concern with regulations limiting its presence.

The 11 EPA methods used to regulate drinking water levels are presented below, with links directly to the chemical methods. A more recent compendium method was added to study the forever chemical PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid and other perfluorochemicals, chemicals that are stable in the environment and found everywhere on the planet, including your bloodstream, where these chemicals were used extensively in Teflon products, food packaging and stain repellents, and are now considered worldwide and non-destructible  contaminants.  The study of organofluorine compounds and other organopersistor chemicals are currently a major scientific front, and analycial standards for the major ones studied are now commercially available here at CP Lab Chemicals.  We supply all major EPA standards across pesticides, toxins, metals and organophosphate compounds, and reagents for their analysis. 

Conductivity Standards- Measuring total dissolved solids in water

One of the most used methods of water analysis that can be conducted by laboratories, those in the field, and by environmental stewards, activists, and students as well, is by conductivity measurements- the ability of water to conduct electricity. As salt and organic contaminants increase in a water sample, it conducts electricity that can be measured readily by simple hand held devices.  Once the meters are standardizied using conductivity standards, the meters can readily tell the total dissolved solid contnet in uSiemens, and indicate its acceptableproperties for human, agriculture, or industrial use.   

Water conductivity is measured in uSeimens/cm (uS) and the lower the uS value, the more pure and less contaminated with total dissolved solids is the water sample. The EPA sets standards where conductivity measurements greater that 400-500 uS indicate salinity or contamination exceeding the set levels for acceptable drinking water. 

For further reading on this subject see a prior report at our CP Lab Safety website page, at Conductivity and Total Dissolved Solids.

Analytical Standards at CP Lab Chemicals

We provide the finest high-purity analytical standards from the most trusted manufacturers of analytical standards found anywhere, and you can find our standards used in pharmaceutical analysis, food and beverage, forensics and environmental testing readily in our catalog under analytical standards. We have also recently partnered with the LGC Group, a premier manufacturer of analytical standards, and have added over 2500 new standards complementing our already 2500 analytical standards across all fields of science. 

One recent category added is the area of cannabinoid and cannabis testing, and we provide over 25 different cannabinoid analytes, plus heavy metal contamination standards for compliance testing as well pesticide and residue standards and fungal metabolite compounds for product validation, composition testing, and safety testing.

You can access our quick reference guide to our analytical standards using this link: Quick reference to Analytical standards or contact us at anytime, at  Ask A Chemist, to navigate our catalog and to obtain the best and most cost-effective standards found anywhere.  We are here to help you! 

We will save you time, money, and technical headaches- Guaranteed!