The COA Checklist: 7 Checks Before You Trust Any Certificate

A certificate of analysis is only worth something if you can check it. Run these 7 checks on any COA, ours included.

1. CHECK 1 OF 7
   The lot number matches the label.
   The lot on the certificate has to match the lot printed on the vial or box, character for character. A certificate for a different lot tells you nothing about yours.
2. CHECK 2 OF 7
   The lab is named, and real.
   Look for the lab's name, address and accreditation. ISO/IEC 17025 is the standard for testing labs. No lab name, no trust.
3. CHECK 3 OF 7
   Purity beats the spec.
   HPLC purity should be a number shown next to the spec it was tested against, for example 99.88% against a 95% spec. A number with no spec is half an answer.
4. CHECK 4 OF 7
   Identity is confirmed, not assumed.
   Purity tells you how clean a sample is. Identity tells you what it is. Look for mass spectrometry (LC-MS) or an HPLC retention-time match against a reference standard. 99% pure of the wrong compound is a fail.
5. CHECK 5 OF 7
   You can verify it with the lab.
   The best certificates carry an access code or link to the lab's own portal, so you can see the same result on the lab's website. If you can't verify it, it's just a PDF.
6. CHECK 6 OF 7
   The dates and numbers make sense.
   The analysis date should come before the product ships, and one certificate shouldn't cover several lots. A result of exactly 100.00% deserves questions: real chromatograms show small peaks.
7. CHECK 7 OF 7
   It hasn't been recycled or edited.
   The same certificate under different vendor names, logos that look pasted on, mismatched fonts or a missing chromatogram are all red flags.

Check ours: every lot we sell has its certificate in our public COA archive, with the lab's access code. For a deeper walk-through, read How to Read a Peptide Certificate of Analysis.

See our lab-verified lots →

Vault Tech Labs sells research compounds for in-vitro laboratory research use only. Not for human or animal use. 21+.