FAQ — Analysis Services

Who can use the analysis services? Can an individual send a single sample?

Anyone — companies of any size, universities and institutions, and private individuals. No company, VAT number or account is required, and a single sample is a normal order. Both services exist for the person who needs a measurement and has no ready access to the instrument.

Do I have to arrange shipping or deal with customs?

No. Shipping is Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), in both directions. NorrChemica books the courier and prepares the export declaration, commercial invoice, HS codes and customs clearance. You print the label and the documents, pack the sample, and hand the parcel to UPS. Nothing is charged at the border.

Where do you collect from?

Anywhere UPS operates — worldwide. The further away you are, the more the included shipping and customs handling matters. Collection is not possible from countries subject to EU sanctions or export restrictions.

How do I pay? Is there a card checkout?

By ordinary bank transfer, in your own currency, against a pro-forma invoice. There is no card checkout, no account to create and no surcharge. For most major currencies we hold local account details, so payment leaves your bank as a domestic transfer rather than an international wire. Work begins once payment has cleared; prices are held for 30 days from the date of the pro-forma invoice.

Do you accept purchase orders and invoice my institution?

Yes. Send your PO reference and we raise the pro-forma invoice against it — nothing to register and no account to create. The invoice can be addressed to your institution or department as your purchasing process requires.

Is VAT included? Who pays it?

Prices shown are net. VAT is then applied to the whole invoice according to the customer: a private customer in the EU is charged Finnish VAT (currently 25.5%), since the place of supply for the service is Finland; an EU business with a valid, VIES-verifiable VAT number is invoiced under reverse charge at 0%; and any customer outside the EU, including the UK, is invoiced without VAT as an export of services.

What is the NMR service, and how do I request it?

You send a physical sample and receive an interpreted spectrum. Submit the form on the NMR service page: describe the sample, its approximate mass and physical form, and what you need to establish. We screen it and reply by email with a pro-forma invoice and a prepaid shipping label, usually within one working day. Nothing is charged until you approve the invoice.

What does NMR analysis cost?

Two elements: an order fee charged once per shipment — EUR 80 (EU/EEA) or EUR 150 (rest of world) — and a package charged per sample. At 400 MHz: ¹H EUR 160 · ¹H plus one X nucleus (¹⁹F, ³¹P or ¹¹B) EUR 280 · ¹H + ¹³C EUR 480 · ¹H + ¹³C plus one X EUR 600 · quantitative purity (qNMR) EUR 620. Fuller characterisation and full structure elucidation are quoted per sample. All prices are net; VAT treatment is explained above.

What is included in the price?

Everything from the vial on your bench to a signed report: the prepaid courier label both ways; the commercial invoice, HS code and export declaration, prepared for you, with a photographed packing guide; the deuterated solvent and NMR tube; acquisition at the field the nucleus actually needs; processing and structural assignment by a chemist, not an automated pipeline; a signed report on letterhead; and the native FID and processed data, yours to reprocess and check.

What do I get back?

A signed report on NorrChemica letterhead — peaks assigned, integrals accounted for, purity stated — together with the native FID and processed data. Where the data cannot separate two possibilities, the report says so, and says which experiment would resolve it.

I don't know which experiment I need. How is it decided?

You do not have to choose. Tell us what you are trying to establish — a structure, a purity figure, the identity of an impurity — and the right experiment is selected before the sample reaches the magnet. A proton spectrum may settle a simple question; another needs an HSQC and an HMBC, a qNMR against a calibrated standard, or a ¹⁹F spectrum you had not considered. Choosing correctly is part of the work.

What do ¹H and ¹³C NMR tell me?

They are the workhorses of organic structure determination. ¹H reports the number and environment of hydrogen atoms and how they couple to one another; ¹³C reports the carbon skeleton. Together they confirm identity and reveal most structural features of a small organic molecule.

When would I need ¹⁹F, ³¹P or ¹¹B NMR?

When the molecule contains those atoms. These heteronuclear spectra give a fast, direct read of what the molecule is doing in solution — how many distinct species are present, their oxidation state, coordination geometry and symmetry. They are sensitive and quick, and often answer a question a proton spectrum cannot.

What is qNMR, and when do I need it?

Quantitative NMR measures purity by comparing your compound against a calibrated internal standard, under acquisition conditions chosen for accurate integration. Use it when you need a defensible purity figure rather than a qualitative check — for a certificate of analysis, a reference material, or batch release.

How do I know the purity figure is reliable?

A purity figure comes from quantitative NMR measured against a calibrated internal standard, not from a qualitative look at a spectrum. The report states the value and the basis for it, and you receive the native data to check the integration yourself.

How do you identify an unknown impurity?

Above the identification threshold — commonly 0.1% — an impurity must be characterised, not merely detected. If you have no reference standard, chromatography cannot tell you what it is, and mass spectrometry gives a formula rather than a structure. NMR assigns the signals directly. Where the data cannot separate two possibilities, we say so, and say which experiment would resolve it.

Why use NMR rather than LC/MS to identify an impurity?

Mass spectrometry gives a molecular formula, not a structure, and two isomers weigh the same. Chromatography separates and quantifies but cannot identify a peak without a reference standard you may not have. NMR reads the structure directly from the spectrum, which is why it settles questions the other techniques leave open.

What is the difference between COSY, HSQC and HMBC?

They are the three routine 2D experiments for building a structure. COSY connects protons that couple to each other. HSQC maps each proton to the carbon it is directly bonded to. HMBC maps protons to carbons two or three bonds away, stitching fragments together across quaternary carbons and heteroatoms. Together they resolve connectivity that a 1D spectrum leaves ambiguous.

How much sample do you need for NMR?

Enough to give a clean spectrum in a standard NMR tube — typically 20 mg for a proton spectrum, and more for ¹³C or other insensitive nuclei. State the approximate mass on the form and we confirm feasibility when the sample is screened.

Can I send several samples, and are there discounts?

Yes. Each sample is charged at its package price, and the order fee is charged only once for the whole shipment. Volume discounts apply from four samples: −5% for 4–9, −10% for 10 or more. If you send samples regularly, a subscription gives 20% below list with the order fee waived on every shipment; subscriptions are arranged by quotation.

Which metals do you test for, and which products can I send?

Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As) in every package; nickel (Ni) is added for juices and nectars. The service covers supplements — powders, capsules, tablets, gummies and drink mixes — spices and botanicals, and beverages. For another food product, name it on the form and we confirm before you send. Full detail is on the heavy metals testing page.

What does heavy metals testing cost?

EUR 290 per sample for supplements, for spices and botanicals, and for wine, beer, cider or spirits; EUR 365 for juices and nectars, which include nickel. Plus one handling and shipping fee per shipment — EUR 80 EU/EEA, EUR 150 rest of world — however many samples it contains. The price is all-inclusive: analysis, shipping in both directions, customs handling and the interpreted report. Prices exclude VAT.

Why do juices and nectars cost more than other beverages?

Their package includes nickel in addition to the four standard metals, because an EU maximum level for nickel applies to fruit juices and nectars.

How much of the product do I need to send?

As a guide: supplements, and spices and botanicals, typically 100–200 g — for capsules, two to three retail packs usually reach this; for powders, one retail tub. Beverages travel as one sealed retail unit, unopened; for very small formats we may ask for a second unit. These quantities are indicative and the exact amount is confirmed with your quotation, before anything ships.

How does the process work?

Submit the form on the service page. We confirm the product category, the EU limit that applies to it and the quantity to send, then issue a pro-forma invoice. Once payment clears you receive the prepaid UPS label with all customs paperwork. The sample goes to the laboratory, and the interpreted report comes back to you.

How long does testing take?

10–15 working days at the laboratory, plus transit in each direction. Three to four weeks door to door is a reasonable estimate.

Which method do you use, and is it accredited?

ICP-MS after closed-vessel acid digestion — EN 15763 for the determination, EN 13805 for the digestion — performed in an EU laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, working within its accredited scope. Mercury is measured in the same determination, and whole spices are milled by the laboratory. The accreditation status is stated in every report.

Which legal limits do you compare against?

The maximum levels of Regulation (EU) 2023/915 as currently in force, with the row for your product category applied — for supplements Pb 3.0 / Cd 1.0 / Hg 0.10 mg/kg, lead limits by spice type, and for juices and nectars lead, inorganic arsenic and nickel. We check the consolidated text before each report.

What does the report contain?

The concentration of each element in mg/kg, and per unit where relevant; the maximum level that applies to your product category, with the row named; the verdict written in words; the measurement uncertainty, always included; the method and reporting limits; and the accreditation status of the measuring laboratory.

What happens if the result exceeds the legal limit?

The report states the exceedance plainly, beside the limit that applies. The result is yours and stays confidential — sample and customer details are used solely for the analysis, never shared.

Do you measure inorganic arsenic?

The standard package measures total arsenic. Where a limit applies to the inorganic fraction, a total-arsenic result below that limit demonstrates compliance, because the inorganic fraction can never exceed the total. If the total reaches the limit, speciation is needed for a verdict — contact us and we will advise on the options for your case.

Can I send wine, beer or spirits for testing?

Yes, at the published package price, as one sealed retail unit, unopened. Because couriers apply special rules to alcohol regardless of its purpose, these shipments are arranged individually: enquire first, and we confirm the shipping route for your country together with your quotation. Customs paperwork is prepared by us in both directions, as with every sample.

Which legal limits apply to wine and beer?

EU law sets a maximum level for lead in wine, which depends on the vintage — 0.10 mg/kg from the 2022 harvest onwards, 0.15 for 2016–2021, 0.20 for 2001–2015 — so wine results carry a verdict beside the limit. Beer and spirits have no EU maximum level for these metals, so the report states the measured concentrations with the reference framework named: you get the numbers even where the law sets no threshold.

Are capsules tested with the shell? Do I get my sample back?

Capsules are analysed whole, shell included, unless you specify otherwise when you enquire. The sample is consumed by the analysis and is not returned. The result applies to the sample as submitted — one retail unit is not a batch.

I am outside the EU — is the report still useful?

Yes. The determinations are performed in a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, and through the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement such results are recognised by the accreditation bodies of around one hundred economies. You receive the same report, with the EU maximum levels named as the reference framework. If you export into the EU, it is exactly the report an EU buyer or importer expects to see.