Laboratory Chemicals Grading System

Chemicals are defined by grades which denotes their standards of purity and suitability for use for particular purposes. Here, in order of decreasing purity, are the chemical grades.
1. Primary Standard Grade and specialized Ultrapure Grades. These chemicals are of exceptionally high
purity that are specilly manufactured for standardizing volumetric solutions, preparing reference stan-
dards, and running lot analyses to determine the purity of production runs of other chemicals.
2. Reagent ACS Grade. These chemicals meet or exceed the current American Chemical Society standards
for purity and are the purest chemicals that are used routinely in laboratories.
3. Reagent Grade. These chemicals are of very high purity but have not been subjected to the exacting
testing and certification standards required for labeling as ACS Grade.
4. USP Grade, NF Grade, or FCC Grade. USP Grade (United States Pharmocopeia), NF Grade (National Form-
ulary), or FCC Grade (Food Chemical Codex) chemicals are manufactured in compliance with current Good
Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) standards and that meet the requirements of the USP, NF, or FCC.
5. Laboratory Grade or Purified Grade are equivalent in purity to USP, NF, and FCC chemicals but are not
certified for pharmaceutical or food use.
6.Practical Grade and Chemically Pure Grade (CP) are of purity suitable for use in synthesis and general
applications , but are a step down in purity from Laboratory or Purified Grade and are not intended for
analytical work.
7. Technical Grade are generally supplied in bulk quantities and are suitable for general industrial use, but
should be used only as a last resort for laboratory use.