A professional who conducts chemical and physical laboratory tests of solid materials, liquids, and gases, and analyzes test data for variety of purposes, such as research, product development, quality control, criminal investigation, and establishing standards, involving experimental, theoretical, or practical application of chemistry and related sciences. Responsibilities include:

• Sets up laboratory equipment and instrumentation required for tests, research, or process control.
• Tests and analyzes products, such as food, drugs, fertilizers, plastics, paints, detergents, paper, petroleum, and cement, to determine strength, stability, purity, chemical content, and other characteristics.
• Tests and analyzes materials and substances, such as ores, minerals, gases, soil, water, and pollutants.
• Documents results of tests and analyses.
• May prepare chemical solutions for use in processing materials, following standardized formulas or experimental procedures.
• May test and analyze radioactive and biological materials, applying knowledge of radiochemical procedures, emission spectrometry, and related techniques.