What Is a Certificate of Analysis?
A Certificate of Analysis — COA — is a document from a testing laboratory that confirms what is actually in a compound. It lists the specific tests performed, the results of those tests, and whether the compound meets the specifications it was supposed to be made to.
In the context of peptide therapy, a COA is the only objective way to verify that a vial contains what the label says it contains, at the purity level claimed, without contamination. Without a COA from a credible independent lab, you are taking the supplier’s word for it — and in the grey-market peptide space of the past decade, that word was frequently not worth much.
This is one of the fundamental reasons physician-guided, pharmacy-compounded peptide therapy is safer than ordering from an online research chemical vendor. Licensed 503A compounding pharmacies are required to provide COAs. Most grey-market vendors were not.
The Five Things to Check on Every COA
1. Who Ran the Test?
The most important thing on a COA is not the results — it is who produced it. A COA from the same company that made and sold you the compound is nearly worthless. That is the supplier testing their own product and telling you it is fine. Look for a named independent third-party laboratory. Reputable labs used in this space include MZ Biolabs and Janoshik Analytical. ISO 17025 accreditation is the gold standard for analytical testing labs.
2. Purity by HPLC
High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) measures the target compound as a percentage of total material in the sample. Research-grade compounds should show 98% or higher. Compounds from regulated compounding pharmacies typically show 99% or above. Below 95% is a meaningful quality concern — it means roughly one in twenty molecules in the vial is something other than what you think you’re getting.
3. Identity Confirmation by Mass Spectrometry
Mass spectrometry confirms that the compound is actually what it claims to be by measuring its molecular weight. Every peptide has a known, predictable molecular weight. The measured mass should match the expected value within 1 Dalton. For BPC-157, the expected molecular weight is 1419.53 Da. If the mass spec shows a different number, the compound is not BPC-157 — regardless of what the label says.
4. Heavy Metals Testing
ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) tests for heavy metal contamination — lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium. Acceptable limits are typically below 20 parts per billion total. Heavy metal contamination is uncommon in well-manufactured peptides but not unheard of in compounds made without rigorous quality controls.
5. Microbial Testing
TAMC (Total Aerobic Microbial Count) and TYMC (Total Yeast and Mold Count) confirm the compound was manufactured in a controlled, clean environment. These tests matter because injectable compounds that are microbially contaminated can cause serious infections. All reputable compounding pharmacies perform sterility and microbial testing as standard.
Red Flags to Walk Away From
No independent lab named on the COA. No mass spectrometry confirmation. No batch number. COA older than two years. Purity below 95%. No microbial testing listed. These are not minor administrative oversights — they are fundamental quality failures that should disqualify a supplier immediately.
What My Body Labs Does
Every compound dispensed through My Body Labs comes from a licensed 503A compounding pharmacy with full batch COA documentation — independent lab, full panel testing, batch-specific results. We name our pharmacy partners publicly. You can look them up on your state pharmacy board. This transparency is a core part of how we operate.