# On chemicals what do the letters PA mean

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-chemicals-what-do-the-letters-pa-mean/481>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [January 20, 2000, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-chemicals-what-do-the-letters-pa-mean/481 "2000-01-20T07:51:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hennie\_Schaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dfb087/32.png) [@Hennie\_Schaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennie_Schaper)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-chemicals-what-do-the-letters-pa-mean/481/1 "2000-01-20T07:51:00Z")

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As much as I like and admire most of Cecil’s answers, I am surprised to find a lot of discussion on pH, assuming that the submitter got it wrong. PA stands for Pro Analysis, which means that the sample is of a very high purity.

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**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-chemicals-what-do-the-letters-pa-mean/481/2 "2000-01-20T14:53:00Z")

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The link is: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_338b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_338b.html)

I think that Cecil’s answer was likely correct given the status of the asker, and the reasons for asking… 😉

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**Author:** ![Hennie\_Schaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dfb087/32.png) [@Hennie\_Schaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennie_Schaper)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-chemicals-what-do-the-letters-pa-mean/481/3 "2000-01-28T05:07:00Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by DSYoungEsq:  
> \*\*The link is: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_338b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_338b.html)
> 
> I think that Cecil’s answer was likely correct given the status of the asker, and the reasons for asking… ;)\*\*

Thanks for the reply, but I fail to see this. Quoting from the column: Dunc said his buds have to “consistently check the PA to get it right”. Indeed assuming that the question relates to illegal drug manufacture, I am pretty sure that you need to make sure that your chemicals are very pure, i.e. “pro analysis” (p.a.) quality. I am a chemist, but with little experience in organic chemistry. I cannot judge whether the synthesis of methamphetamine requires monitoring of pH, but in general, this is not the case for organic syntheses.