Why verification matters
Certificates of Analysis are PDFs and images, and both are easy to alter. Even an untouched report can be misleading if it is reused: a supplier's report passed along for a different lot, one vial size's results shown on another size, or an old report left up long after that lot sold out. Verification is how you tell an honest report from a borrowed one.
1. Match the lot
Find the lot or batch number on the report and compare it with the number printed on the vial or its label. If they don't match, the report doesn't describe that vial, however good the numbers look.
2. Check the report with the lab
Independent labs usually print a verification key, access code or QR code on each report. Go to the lab's own website, not a link supplied by the vendor, and enter the code. The original record should come up with the same sample, lot and results. If the figures differ, or the code doesn't exist, treat the report as unverified.
3. Check the date
The analysis date tells you when the sample was tested. A report dated long before the product appeared in a shop, or one that has stayed the same through several restocks, may not describe the lot on the shelf now.
4. Check the size and the sample
A vial size is its own fill, and often its own lot. A report on one size doesn't cover another. Check that the sample description and the labeled amount on the report match the size you are buying.
5. Check what was actually run
Read the report's rows, not the product page's badges. If a listing claims sterility, endotoxin or heavy-metal screening, the report for that lot should show those rows with a method and a result. Anything not on the report wasn't tested. See Endotoxin, sterility and heavy-metal testing.
6. Know who commissioned it
Reports name the client who submitted the sample. A vendor-commissioned report means the vendor sent its own stock for testing. A supplier's report can still be genuine, but it describes the supplier's sample, so the lot match in step 1 matters even more. If a vendor can't tell you which report covers your lot, ask; a reputable one will answer.
Quick checklist
- Lot number on the report matches the vial
- Verification key confirmed on the lab's own website
- Analysis date fits the lot in stock
- Report covers the vial size you are buying
- Every claimed screen appears as a row on the report
- You know who submitted the sample
How Lumina Labs publishes reports
The COA Library lists each report by lot, with the lab's name, the analysis date and the figures exactly as printed. Reports are published per tested lot; not every product has one yet, and if the report for a lot you are looking at isn't posted, ask us and we'll tell you what we have. Each compound has its own certificates page, such as the LRL-TESA certificates, and any report can be downloaded as a PDF carrying the key you need to check it with the lab. For what each line of a report means, read How to read a peptide COA.
Lumina Labs supplies research compounds for in vitro laboratory research use only. They are not intended for human or veterinary consumption, or to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.