Chemical Grades

We use a number of abbreviations on our site to distinguish between different grades of chemical.  It is important to understand the differences between these grades in order to ensure that you purchase chemicals suitable for your application.

Technical Grade - Generally quite a low grade of chemical.  These products are suitable for use in industrial applications where the composition and purity of the chemical is not necessarily of great importance.

GRG - General Reagent Grade or General Grade chemicals.  This is the most popular grade of chemical that we sell.  These chemicals are suitable for everyday laboratory and home use.  They are generally of quite a high compositional purity (up to 99.9%), however no specific tests or claims are made as to whether any other contaminants are present or not.

BP Grade - BP grade is also known as pharmaceutical grade and is analogous to the American USP Grade.  These products must conform to the standards set out by the British Pharmacopoeia in terms of purity and lack of contaminants.  These products are supplied with a COA (certificate of analysis or certificate of conformity) which shows that they have been tested and confirmed to meet the required standards. BP grade chemicals are generally used for cosmetic applications as they ensure a high level of purity and traceability, or when a higher grade is required for laboratory testing.  Please note that while they may be called pharmaceutical grade, none of the products that we sell are authorised for use in food or medical applications.

Our BP grade products are supplied to us prepacked and certified by pharmaceutical grade suppliers.

AR Grade - Analytical Research Grade chemicals are a very high grade of chemical suitable for the specialist analytical testing carried out in laboratories where a high degree of accuracy is required.

While we try to ensure that all products are graded correctly on the site, when no grade is given you can assume that the product is of General Reagent Grade (GRG).  Please check with us if you are unsure.