News and Updates

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NIST Quality Assurance Program for Health Assessment Measurements Open for Registration

March 26, 2021

The latest exercise in NIST's Health Assessment Measurements Quality Assurance Program (HAMQAP) is open for registration. HAMQAP, a collaboration with the

Study Indicates That Humidity in Breath Makes Cotton Masks More Effective at Slowing the Spread of COVID-19

March 9, 2021

Researchers have come up with a better way to test which fabrics work best for masks that are meant to slow the spread of COVID-19. By testing those fabrics

A Better Way to Measure Acceleration

March 8, 2021

You’re going at the speed limit down a two-lane road when a car barrels out of a driveway on your right. You slam on the brakes, and within a fraction of a

A woman (Alix Rodowa) wearing a mask and a lab coat works with scientific equipment.

Spotlight: Alix Rodowa and PFAS in Groundwater

January 15, 2021

Water has fascinated postdoctoral researcher Alix Rodowa since her days in a high school environmental science club. Now, she takes a sample of life at NIST in

A scientist in lab coat and rubber gloves places a large clear bag of marijuana on a weighing scale.

NIST Study Will Help Labs Distinguish Between Hemp and Marijuana

January 14, 2021

Hemp and marijuana both come from the Cannabis plant. But legally, they are very different. If cannabis has less than 0.3% THC — for tetrahydrocannabinol, the

A woman wearing safety goggles and a mask poses in front of a cabinet holding vials.

Spotlight: Kathy Peter’s Cross-County Journey Toward NIST Research Into ‘Forever Chemicals’

December 11, 2020

Search, seek and define — NIST postdoctoral researcher Kathy Peter is on a mission to uncover chemical compounds that fall into the category of PFAS (per- and

K9 Chemistry: A Safer Way to Train Detection Dogs

December 2, 2020

Trained dogs are incredible chemical sensors, far better at detecting explosives, narcotics and other substances than even the most advanced technological

New Airflow Videos Show Why Masks With Exhalation Valves Do Not Slow the Spread of COVID-19

November 10, 2020

Many people wear masks in public to slow the spread of COVID-19, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, masks with

A woman in lab coat, safety glasses and a mask stands at a lab bench weighing samples.

NIST Researchers Advance Efforts to Accurately Measure Glyphosate Pesticide in Common Foods

November 2, 2020

Pesticides help farmers increase food production, reduce costly damage to crops, and even prevent the spread of insect-borne diseases, but since the chemicals

A woman with safety goggles and gloves stands at a lab bench.

A Better Alternative to Phthalates?

September 25, 2020

Detergents, shampoos, soaps and other everyday items sometimes contain a group of chemicals called phthalates, which are often used to enhance products and add

woman holding a North American Atlantic salmon

Spotlight: The Trek North for Precious Mucus Hormones in Salmon

September 23, 2020

Something smells fishy, and NIST postdoctoral researcher Erin Legacki is on the job to figure out what’s happening. The North American Atlantic salmon has seen

Two birds with black heads and white bellies stand on a rock.

Climate Variability May Alter Pollutants in Some Sub-Arctic Birds

August 11, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Emory University have discovered that some bird species in the sub-Arctic tend to ingest

Green leafy material inside a graduated cylinder.

NIST to Help Labs Achieve Accurate THC, CBD Measurements

July 21, 2020

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched a program to help laboratories accurately measure key chemical compounds in marijuana

Micrograph shows coiled fibers on yellow background with inset of lighter yellow square.

Face Coverings Made From Layered Cotton Fabric Likely Slow the Spread of COVID-19 Better Than Synthetics, New Study Finds

June 29, 2020

Researchers have completed a new study of how well a variety of natural and synthetic fabrics filter particles of a similar size to the virus that causes COVID

A large brown seal is in the snow. It has whiskers that look like a beard on a human male.

NIST Helps Expand Genome Sequencing of Marine Mammals

May 7, 2020

Researchers will soon have access to the full genomic sequences for 23 marine mammal species preserved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology

A large whale is halfway out of the water, about to breach.

A Better Pregnancy Test for Whales

February 20, 2020

It’s not easy to do pregnancy tests on whales. You can’t just ask a wild ocean animal that’s the size of a school bus to pee on a little stick. For decades, the

Turmeric: Spice or Herbal Medicine?

October 15, 2019

What: SRM 3299 is a ground turmeric rhizome powder value assigned for curcuminoids and toxic elements. The SRM consists of five packets of the material each

Moldy Food is Never Good...But Sometimes it Can Be Toxic!

August 27, 2019

What: Mycotoxins are produced by some types of fungus that can grow on agricultural products during farming and storage when the temperature and humidity

New NIST Reference Material Aims to Improve Food Safety in Corn Products

June 18, 2019

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new reference material that can be used to identify deadly toxins in

Keeping Up With Folic Acid Fortification

February 19, 2019

What: SRM 3949 is a new material with several improvements compared to the original SRM 1955. It is comprised of three levels of folates in human serum. Why

SRM 2777 Weathered Gulf of Mexico Crude Oil in Toulene

Weathered Oil - That's Distressing

February 4, 2019

What: SRM 2777 is composed of a naturally weathered crude oil extracted from oil-soaked sand that was collected from a beach that was impacted by the Deepwater

Carcinogens in My Food - No Thank You

November 20, 2018

What: SRM 3253 is a ground, commercially available yerba mate with certified and reference mass fraction values assigned for select polycyclic aromatic

Shedding [Sun] Light on Vitamin D Metabolites

November 6, 2018

What: Ethanolic solution certified for the mass fraction value of 24R,25‑Dihydroxyvitamin D3 [24R,25(OH)2D3]. Why: The vitamin D metabolite 25-hydroxyvitamin D

A green sea turtle is peaking its head above the ocean's surface while a rainbow appears in the sky over its head.

How Reliable Are Turtles for Measuring Ocean Trash and Marine Health?

September 25, 2018

When a sea turtle turns up dead on the beach, it often makes the news, especially if the death appears to result from plastic debris in the turtle’s stomach

A large polar bear is jumping from one block of ice to another.

Many Arctic Pollutants Decrease After Market Removal and Regulation

August 27, 2018

Levels of some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) regulated by the Stockholm Convention are decreasing in the Arctic, according to an international team of

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