NIST Adds New “Fingerprints” to Chemical Identification Database
The update includes more than 14,000 human and plant metabolites, as well as pesticides and environmental contaminants, chemicals used in manufacturing such as lubricants and surfactants, pharmaceutical drugs, and illicit drugs.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has updated its database of chemical fingerprints, called mass spectra, that are used to identify unknown chemical compounds. The NIST Mass Spectral Library and its new version, called NIST20, is used in health care, drug discovery, foods and fragrances, oil and natural gas, environmental protection, forensic science, and almost every other industry that manufactures or measures physical items.
“If you have a mysterious substance—you have no idea what it is—you generate its fingerprints then run those prints through our library,” said Tytus Mak, NIST biostatistician. “If you find a match, you know what the substance is.”