Many standards organizations and federal agencies that set guidelines require the use of ACS-grade regent chemicals for many test procedures.

[4] An exception would be those working on trace analyses (measuring contaminants in the environment, for example), where small impurities in reagents would be significant.

Changes are published online six months prior to becoming an official standard, allowing manufacturers to adjust their labels or processes.

[6] While the full details of most reagents are behind a paywall, that for acetone is publicly available to showcase a typical entry.

The committee includes members from chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers, academia, and government organizations (NIST, EPA, USGS).