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How to verify a certificate of analysis

A PDF on a seller\u2019s product page is a picture of a claim. Verification means checking that claim in the issuing lab\u2019s own system. Doctored certificates are a known fraud pattern in this market, and at least one major lab has publicly flagged a vendor report whose task number belonged to a different product.

The five checks

1. Find the verification handle on the COA. Depending on the lab that is a task number plus key, an accession or search code, a QR code, a report number, or a certificate hash.
2. Enter it on the lab\u2019s own site or lookup. Never follow a verification link printed on the seller\u2019s page; navigate to the lab yourself.
3. Match the details. Compound, lot or batch number, date and result should match the PDF exactly.
4. Check the identity method. Was identity actually confirmed by mass spectrometry, or only by HPLC retention time? The directory states this for every lab.
5. Remember the limit. A verified COA proves that one sample tested that way on that date. It does not certify every vial in a batch, and a seller cannot borrow a COA from an untested batch or product.

Red flags

• No task number, accession code, QR code or any other way to check the report at the lab.
• The lot or batch number on the COA does not match the vial being sold.
• The verification lookup returns a different product, a different date or a different result.
• A sterility result reported faster than a culture can physically run, presented as a full sterility test.
• Accreditation logos with no scope, or an accredited claim for a lab whose own pages say pending or not accredited.

Verification mechanism by lab