Introduction to Grades of Chemicals

The vast majority of chemicals today are manufactured to comply with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) regulation ISO 9001:2008. Quality management systems with ISO compliance produce chemicals of a standard suitable for most applications about the home or in industry without needing further purification. Chemicals used in the laboratory are manufactured to a higher set of standards, some set by the American Chemical Society (ACS) are recognised to world over, some set by manufacturers are thought to be an international standard but are in fact not.
To negate any confutation between standards the scale here will be from most pure to least pure.

• Analytical chemistry grade (exceptional purity nearing >99%)
• Laboratory chemistry grade (very pure nearing >97%)
• Laboratory/ General chemistry grade (varying degrees of purity depending on standard)
• General chemistry grade (pure nearing > 95% aprox)
• Industrial chemistry grade (impure >90% aprox)

General Grades of Chemicals

• Guaranteed Reagent (GR) - Analytical chemistry grade. Must meet or exceed the benchmark requirements for analytical chemistry set by (ACS), Certificate of Analysis on demand. (EMD^®)
• Primary Standard (PS) - Analytical chemistry grade. This is the reference standard for exceptional purity. The terminology in relation to the standardizing of volumetric solutions and the preparation of a reference standards for laboratory comparison.
• Reagent A.C.S. – Laboratory chemistry grade. The abbreviation "A.C.S.," stands for American Chemical Society specification for laboratory reagents. Any merchant offering (ACS) reagents must produce a Certificate of Analysis on demand as proof of compliance to the American Chemical Society standard.
• AR – Laboratory chemistry grade. This standard comes from the Mallinckrodt grade of analytical reagents. If this chemical meets or exceeds the benchmark requirements of the American Chemical Society Committee on Analytical Reagents it will be labelled with the notation AR (ACS) reagent. (MBI^®)
• Reagent - Laboratory chemistry grade. This is a manufacturer set standard generally excepted by chemists to mean the highest quality commercially available, this is a standard is only to be trusted from suppliers with a long history of customer satisfaction. Note: There is no official (ACS) benchmark for this standard.
• USP/GenAR - Laboratory chemistry grade. Manufactured to meet current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) for the standard (1995 USP 23), British Pharmacopeia (BP), European Pharmacopeia (PhEur, EP) and Endotoxin (LAL) tested. Certificate of Analysis on demand.(MBI^®)
• USP - Laboratory/ General chemistry grade*. Manufactured to meet current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) set by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). (*see USP for exact chemical standard)
• OR - Laboratory/ General chemistry grade. Organic Reagents suitable for general research applications. (MBI^®)
• Lab Grade - Laboratory/ General chemistry grade. This is a manufacturer set standard generally excepted by chemists to mean suitable for laboratory and medical use along with the the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals. Some times referred to as Medical Grade. Note: There is no official (ACS) benchmark for this standard.
• NF - Laboratory/ General chemistry grade*. Manufactured to the standards set by the National Formulary (NF) (*see NF for exact chemical standard)
• FCC - Laboratory/ General chemistry grade*. Manufactured to the standards set by the Food Chemical Codex (FCC) (*see FCC for exact chemical standard)
• CP (Chemically Pure) - General chemistry grade. This is a manufacturer set standard generally excepted by chemists to mean suitable general prepose applications. Note: There is no official (ACS) benchmark for this standard.
• Purified - General chemistry grade. As a rule this manufacturer set standard is only used to describe inorganic chemicals that are of a good commercial quality. Note: There is no official (ACS) benchmark for this standard.
• Practical – Industrial chemistry grade. This manufacturer set standard is for good to low commercial quality chemicals, generally used to describe organic chemicals that may contain isomers or intermediates not isolated during manufacture. Note: There is no official (ACS) benchmark for this standard.
• Technical - Industrial chemistry grade. This is a manufacturer set standard generally excepted by chemists to mean suitable industrial applications. Note: There is no official (ACS) benchmark for this standard.

Acids Grades of Chemicals

Solvents Grades of Chemicals

Miscellaneous Grades of Chemicals

Reagents Volumetric Solutions
These solutions, also called Standardized Solutions are a mainstay of the laboratory life and are manufactured from materials that meet or exceed requirements of the American Chemical Society, in the instance that an ACS benchmark does not exist materials of the highest quality are use. ASTM type 1 Reagent Grade Water is considered "gold standard" that must be met for all aqueous solutions. The traceability of raw materials, lot samples and quality control records must be Kept by the manufacturer. (lot sample held for a minimum of five years) All solutions are guaranteed to meet label specifications. All solution labels meet or exceed all ISO, DOT and OSHA regulations and include the following information:

• Expiration Date
• Date of Manufacture
• Standard Reference Material used
• Actual Lot Analysis
• Space for date received and date opened
• NFPA diamond

Note: Being able to read the and understand the information on a reagent label is the single most important aspect of chemical storage and handling. The importance of the chemist being familiar with standard ACS Reagent Labelling System can not be overstated, see bellow for explanation.

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