What are Certified Reference Materials?

Certified reference materials (CRMs) are manufactured as standards that are utilized to ensure the quality and metrological traceability of products. They are used to ensure a high level of quality and control when developing new products and must be produced by companies who have been certified as reference material manufacturers. Throughout this blog post, we will look closer at what certified reference materials are and what forms they are available in.

Certified Reference Materials

When producing new products, it is crucial for manufacturers to have another material to use as a reference. This reference material must have already been validated by meeting the ISO guidelines for being defined as ‘sufficiently homogenous and stable with respect to one or more specified properties’. The material can then be used to support the production of similar products.

The ISO 17034 guideline provides manufacturers with a certifcate to prove their reference materials meet the metrological traceability and the uncertainty value of each property.

What Types of Certified Reference Materials Are Available?

Certified reference materials are available in a range of products, which can be utilized depending on what products are being referenced. CRMs can be used to support the production and calibration of instruments, to validate analytical methods and for quality control.

However, you will also come across the term standard reference materials (SRMs) or reference materials. Reference materials are a level below certified reference materials because they do not provide the highest level of accuracy. Reference materials must still be manufactured by an accredited reference materials manufacturer and they provide a number of benefits. 

The benefits of reference materials include:

• Cost-Effective: They are cheaper to produce than certified reference materials.
  
• Easier to Access: Because they do not require the highest level of accuracy, it is easier to produce reference materials.
  
• Quality Assurance: Reference materials, although not certified, must still meet the ISO guidelines and must be produced by a certified reference material manufacturer and thus ensuring a high quality.

Standard Reference Materials at XRF

At XRF, we produce a range of reference materials to suit your laboratory needs. These reference materials include:

Fused Calibration Beads

Our fused calibration beads come in both single and multi-element standards or fused borate beads. These calibration beads can be customised for your own calibration or analytical requirements.

Certified Reference Materials

Our certified reference materials are also referred to as laboratory standards. They are low in cost and are utilized to support quality assurance and quality control in laboratories and exploration companies.

These reference materials are available in 30, 50 and 100gram sachets and are pulverised rock with known gold or iron ore content.

Sythetic Iron Ore Reference Materials

Our iron ore reference materials are used to accurately measure the composition of your iron ore samples. Additionally, these materials are used to support the calibration of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometers in the miniry and exploration industries.

Should you wish to learn more about certified reference materials or the standard reference materials that XRF manufacture, please do not hesitate to contact us today and we’d be more than happy to help.