Friday, June 11, 2010

What is a CAS number?

Chemicals are listed on MSDS sheets, along with their assigned CAS number.

CAS Registry numbers are assigned to each chemical by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a division of the American Chemical Society. Each number is a unique identifier for a chemical substance and can apply to only one. These numbers have no underlying chemical significance but provide a systematic way to identify a chemical substance or molecular structure, regardless of the many names that may be applied to that ingredient.

Each CAS registry number has three parts separated by hyphens, up to a maximum of ten digits. The first part contains up to seven digits, the second contains two digits, and the third part is always one digit (the check digit). The numbers themselves are simply assigned in increasing order and have no inherent meaning.

CAS numbers can apply to many different substances including alloys, chemical elements and compounds, minerals, mixtures, polymers, salts and biological sequences.

The CAS registry numbers are taken from the CAS registry, which is a database of these chemicals. The database is updated every day, with roughly 12,000 new substances added daily.

CAS registry numbers are used on MSDS sheets because they are unique to each substance and are internationally recognized. These numbers are the standard when identifying a chemical because of the many different ways that a chemical can be labelled, including by their molecular formula, generic names, or trivial names. Having a CAS number ensures you are using the correct chemical information at all times.

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