Grades of Chemicals Laboratory Operations Review 34
GRADE CHARACTERISTICS/USE
Analytic reagent grade
Ultra pure
Chemically pure
Practical, technical, or
commercial grade
USP or NF grade
Very high purity. Meets specifications of American Chemical Society. Recommended for qualitative &
quantitative analysis.
Spectrograde, nanograde, or HPLC grade. Used for gas chromatography, HPLC, fluorometry, & trace metal
determinations.
Limits of impurities not specified. May be acceptable for some lab applications when higher purity chemicals
aren’t available.
For industrial use. Not of sufficient purity to use as analytic reagents.
Meet specifications of U.S. Pharmacopeia or National Formulary. Not injurious to health. Not necessarily of
sufficient purity to use as analytic reagents.
