Analytical Laboratory Services

Analytical laboratory services detect, classify and/or assay chemical, material, biological, geological and environmental samples. They perform many different services. Examples include quantitative analysis, bioanalytical services, chemical testing, cleanroom testing, environmental exposure, environmental testing, failure analysis, field sampling, sample pickup, sample retention, standards testing, and report preparation. Analytical laboratory services that provide geotechnical, industrial hygiene, material testing, and umpire testing services are also available. Monitoring programs, audits, and site surveillance programs can be designed for specific test media or material such as adhesives, air, asbestos, ceramics, chemicals, coatings, composites, concrete, fuel cells and battery materials, gases, hazardous waste, herbicides and pesticides, metals and heavy metals, inorganics, microbiological samples, nanomaterials, paper, dioxins, petroleum fluids, plastics and rubber, polymers and organics, powders, and radioactive materials. Analytical laboratory services may also specialize in test media such as sediment, soil, solid waste, toxins, textiles, thin films, volatile organic compounds (VOC), wafers, water, and welds. 

Analytical laboratory services use a variety of testing and analytical techniques. Choices include ash testing, atomic absorption spectroscopy (AA), chemical extraction, chromatography, combustion analysis, deformulation or reverse engineering, diffraction, inductively coupled plasma (ICP), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), isotopic analysis, mass spectroscopy, and mechanical testing. Analytical laboratory services may also use various microscopy and metallography techniques and perform nondestructive testing (NDT), property testing, opacity testing, optical emission spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermal analysis, trace analysis, and wet chemical analysis. Rheology testing services characterizes a fluid based on its viscous properties and elastic response. Analytical laboratory services that perform particle size or sieve analysis may use sieving, dynamic light scattering, electrozone sensing, laser diffraction, low angle light scattering (LALLS), microscopy, or sedimentation. Companies that perform X-ray radiography, scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM), auger spectroscopy (AES), hermeticity testing, laser ablation ICP (LA-ICP), and mass spectrometry (MS) are also available. 

Analytical laboratory services test samples to a variety of certification and approval standards. They also adhere to many different facility accreditations and assessments. Organizations that provide certifications and approvals include the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the American Public Health Association (APHA), the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American Welding Society (AWS), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Facility accreditations and assessments include ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001, and ISO 17025. Some analytical laboratory services are listed in the Asbestos Analysts Registry (AAR) or meet requirements from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). Others are certified to National Aerospace and Defense Contractors (NADCAP) requirements, the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP), or the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP). 

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