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Standard Reference Materials

News and Updates

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A New Control for Measuring Active Compounds and Contaminants in Ginger Root

June 30, 2021

A new NIST reference material for ginger, a popular remedy for nausea, provides values for arsenic, mercury, and lead, helping manufacturers ensure that their...

First-Ever Reference Material for Measuring Conversion of Heat to Electrical Energy at High Temps

May 27, 2021

Standard Reference Material (SRM) 3452 enables, for the first time, instrument validation and interlaboratory data comparison to support the research...

A picture of vials of SRM 1992 and SRM 1993

NIST Collaboration Yields First Certified Reference Materials for Zeta Potential

January 19, 2021

Two new Standard Reference Materials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology give researchers and manufacturers a way to check the performance...

An illustration of a small particle is placed next to an illustration of polystyrene spheres.

Want to Avoid Problems in Powerful New Drugs? Ask a Roofer.

February 28, 2019

Understanding how proteins clump together is essential in modern pharmaceuticals. When these tiny particles aggregate, they can alter the effectiveness of both...

Winning Numbers

May 29, 2018

NIST Standard Reference Materials® help people in industry, academia, and government agencies have confidence in their measurements, which is essential to every...

Illustration of 5 roundish objects of purple and blue arranged in a circle

NIST Standard Story: Matters of the Heart

September 20, 2017

NIST scientists have thoroughly measured and characterized more than 1,300 physical products, NIST Standard Reference Materials ®, to help people in industry...

New NIST Tool Aims to Improve Accuracy of Test to Determine Cardiovascular Disease Risk

September 19, 2017

Cardiovascular disease caused one out of three deaths in the United States in 2016, and for decades it has been the leading killer for both men and women...

NIST Standard Story: No Humans Were Harmed

February 15, 2017

NIST scientists have thoroughly measured and characterized more than 1,300 physical products, NIST Standard Reference Materials ®, to help people in industry...

NIST Standard Story: A Fish Story

November 18, 2016

NIST scientists have thoroughly measured and characterized more than 1,300 physical products, NIST Standard Reference Materials ®, to help people in industry...

This electron micrograph shows an oral squamous cancer cell being attacked by two cytotoxic T cells.

NIST Releases New 'Family' of Standardized Genomes

September 16, 2016

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—With the addition of four new reference materials (RMs) to a growing collection of “measuring sticks” for gene sequencing, the National...

NIST research chemist Jeanita Pritchett extracts nicotine and tobacco-specific compounds from a candidate Standard Reference Material (SRM)

New NIST Reference Material Helps Assure Accurate Measurement of Constituents in Tobacco Products

September 12, 2016

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a reference material with certified amounts of nicotine and two carcinogens to help ensure...

Three-dimensional culture of human breast cancer cells, with DNA stained blue and a protein in the cell surface membrane stained green.

NIST and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Help Ensure Accurate Clinical Measurements of HER2 Breast Cancer Gene

August 17, 2016

A new measurement standard developed by the National Institute of Standards of Technology (NIST) has been used successfully by the Frederick National Laboratory...

An Extraordinary Standard: New NIST Protein Could Spur Biopharmaceutical Innovation

July 28, 2016

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued one of the world's most intricate measurement standards: an exhaustively...

How Refreshing: NIST's Natural Air Standards Support Accurate Greenhouse Gas Measurements

February 19, 2016

When it comes to tallying emissions of greenhouse gases, there is no better substitute than directly measuring the atmosphere. But this important accounting can...

New Shellfish Reference Material Will Help Monitor Oceans' Radioactive Contamination

August 4, 2015

A new reference material that will help laboratories accurately measure radioactive contamination in seawater is now available from the National Institute of...

'Measuring Stick' Standard for Gene Sequencing Now Available from NIST

May 21, 2015

The world's first reference material to help ensure laboratories accurately "map" DNA for genetic testing, medical diagnoses and future customized drug...

New NIST Reference Material Provides a Silver Lining for NanoEHS Research

March 3, 2015

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a new silver nanoparticle reference material to support researchers studying potential...

New NIST Standard Reference Material to Help Calibrate Hospital CAT Scanners

July 23, 2013

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new standard reference material (SRM), the first such measurement tool...

This cartridge case shows the three distinct marks, or 'signatures,' impressed on its surface when it was fired by a gun

Shelling Out Evidence: NIST Ballistic Standard Helps Tie Guns to Criminals

August 8, 2012

Thanks to a new reference standard developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), law enforcement agencies will have an easier time...

NIST Releases Gulf of Mexico Crude Oil Reference Material

March 6, 2012

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a new certified reference material to support the federal government's Natural Resources...

Photomicrograph showing human lung cells infected with cytomegalovirus.

NIST Standard Available for Better Diagnosis, Treatment of Cytomegalovirus

January 10, 2012

A new clinical Standard Reference Material (SRM) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will help health care professionals more...

New NIST Nano-Ruler Sets Some Very Small Marks

September 22, 2009

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a new ruler, and even for an organization that routinely deals in superlatives, it sets...

New Reference Material Supports Improved Quality Control for Polymers Industry

March 10, 2009

In a tour de force of measurement science, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed and issued for sale a new...

New SRM Allows Accurate Accounting of Forensic DNA

October 25, 2007

Thanks to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a method for making multiple copies of DNA fragments, even tiny bits of biological evidence (in the form of hair...

SRMs Track Fire Retardants in Humans and Environment

August 16, 2007

If only the flame retardant chemicals routinely added to consumer products from carpets to cell phones just did their job and nothing more. Health officials...

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