Details Report for:
19-4031.00 - Chemical Technicians
Conduct chemical and physical laboratory tests to assist scientists in making qualitative and quantitative analyses of solids, liquids, and gaseous materials for research and development of new products or processes, quality control, maintenance of environmental standards, and other work involving experimental, theoretical, or practical application of chemistry and related sciences.
Sample of reported job titles: Chemical Analyst, Chemical Technician, Formulation Technician, Laboratory Analyst (Lab Analyst), Laboratory Technician (Lab Tech), Laboratory Tester (Lab Tester), Organic Preparation Analyst (Organic Prep Analyst), Quality Control Technician (QC Technician), Research Technician, Water Quality Technician
Tasks | Technology Skills | Tools Used | Knowledge | Skills | Abilities | Work Activities | Detailed Work Activities | Work Context | Job Zone | Education | Credentials | Interests | Work Styles | Work Values | Related Occupations | Wages & Employment | Job Openings | Additional Information
Tasks Save Table (XLS/CSV)
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Category | Task |
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89 ![]() ![]() |
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86 ![]() ![]() |
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84 ![]() ![]() |
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78 ![]() ![]() |
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76 ![]() ![]() |
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67 ![]() ![]() |
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90 ![]() ![]() |
Supplemental | |
81 ![]() ![]() |
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77 ![]() ![]() |
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70 ![]() ![]() |
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69 ![]() ![]() |
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59 ![]() ![]() |
Supplemental |
Technology Skills Save Table (XLS/CSV)
- Analytical or scientific software — Laboratory information management system LIMS
- Data base user interface and query software — Database software; Microsoft Access
; Oracle software
; Structured query language SQL
- Development environment software — Software development tools
- Electronic mail software — Email software
- Enterprise resource planning ERP software — SAP
- Object or component oriented development software — C++
; Oracle Java
; Python
- Office suite software — Microsoft Office
- Operating system software — Linux
- Presentation software — Microsoft PowerPoint
- Spreadsheet software — Microsoft Excel
- Word processing software — Microsoft Word
Hot Technology — a technology requirement frequently included in employer job postings.
Tools Used Save Table (XLS/CSV)
- Air or gas tanks or cylinders — Lecture bottles
- Air velocity and temperature monitors — Velometers
- Ammeters
- Atomic absorption AA spectrometers — Atomic absorption AA spectroscopes
- Barometers — Aneroid barometers; Mercury barometers
- Bench refractometers or polarimeters — Abbe refractometers; Differential refractometers
- Benchtop centrifuges
- Bi metallic sensors — Bimetallic strip thermometers
- Binocular light compound microscopes — Optical compound microscopes
- Calorimeters — Bomb calorimeters; Differential scanning calorimeters
- Ceramic crucibles — Gooch crucibles
- Chromatographic detectors — Ultraviolet UV light detectors
- Chromatography syringes — Chromatography microsyringes
- Chromatography tubing — Photomultiplier tubes
- Comparators
- Coulometers
- Cuvettes — Plastic cuvettes
- Decontamination shower — Safety showers
- Desktop computers
- Dissolved oxygen meters
- Drying cabinets or ovens — Laboratory drying ovens
- Electronic toploading balances
- Eyewashers or eye wash stations — Eyewash fountains
- Facial shields — Face shields
- Filtering machinery — Filter pumps
- Fire extinguishers
- Flame ionization analyzers — Flame ionization detectors FID
- Flowmeters — Bubble flow meters
- Fractionation apparatus — Bubble-cap fractionating columns; Molecular stills
- Freezedryers or lyophilzers — Lyophilizers
- Fume hoods or cupboards — Exhaust hoods; Explosion-proof fume hoods; Perchloric acid hoods; Radioisotope fume hoods
- Gas burners — Bunsen burners; Laminar flow burners; Meker burners
- Gas chromatographs — Gas chromatography equipment
- Gas detectors — Gas leak detectors
- Gas masks — Canister gas masks
- Geiger counters — Geiger-Muller counters
- Glass crucibles — Glass laboratory crucibles
- Goggles — Safety goggles
- Gravimeters — Gravitational field indicators
- Handheld thermometer — Beckmann thermometers; Digital handheld thermometers
- Hazardous material protective apparel — Hazardous material protective clothing
- Heating mantles or tapes — Heating mantles
- Heating or drying equipment or accessories — Dessicators; Steam baths
- High pressure liquid chromatograph chromatography — High pressure liquid chromatograph HPLC equipment
- High pressure sodium lamp HID — High pressure sodium lamps
- Homogenizers
- Hot air blowers
- Hydrometers
- Immersion heaters
- Inductively coupled plasma ICP spectrometers — Atomic emissions spectroscopes
- Infrared lamps
- Infrared spectrometers — Fourier transfer infrared FTIR spectrometers; Infrared IR spectroscopes
- Ion analyzers — Photo detectors
- Ion chromatographs — Ion exchange chromatography equipment
- Laboratory balances — Single-pan balances; Torsion balances; Unequal-arm balances; Westphal balances
- Laboratory blenders or emulsifiers — Laboratory blenders
- Laboratory box furnaces — Muffle furnaces
- Laboratory burets — Glass burets
- Laboratory centrifugal pumps
- Laboratory clamps — Test tube clamps; Utility clamps
- Laboratory cork borers — Cork borer sets
- Laboratory crushers or pulverizers — Sample crushers
- Laboratory dishes — Evaporating dishes
- Laboratory flasks — Claisen flasks; Reaction flasks; Vacuum flask traps; Volumetric flasks
- Laboratory funnels — Buchner funnels; Hirsch funnels
- Laboratory general purpose tubing — Capillary tubing; Gas drying tubes
- Laboratory glass tube — Glass tubing
- Laboratory heat exchange condensers — Distilling condensers; Reflux condensers
- Laboratory hotplates — Laboratory heating plates
- Laboratory mechanical convection ovens — Gravity convection ovens
- Laboratory mills — Ball mills
- Laboratory mixers — Agitation tanks; Magnetic agitators
- Laboratory presses — Laboratory pressing equipment
- Laboratory sprayers — Nebulizers
- Laboratory staining dishes or jars — Bell jars
- Laboratory tongs
- Laboratory vacuum pumps — Computer-controlled pumps; Diffusion pumps; Volume displacement pumps; Water aspirators (see all 5 examples)
- Lasers — Dye lasers; Ruby lasers
- Liquid chromatographs — Liquid chromatography equipment
- Liquid scintillation counters — Fluid scintillation counters
- Magnetic stirrers — Magnetic stirring bars
- Mainframe computers
- Manometers — Closed-end manometers; U-tube manometers
- Manostats — Cartesian manostats
- Mass spectrometers — Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry LC/MS equipment
- Mercury vapor lamp HID — Mercury vapor lamps
- Metering pumps
- Monochromators
- Multi gas monitors — Vapor monitor badges
- Multimeters
- Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectrometers — Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectroscopes
- Optical beamsplitters — Optical beamsplitting devices
- Organic carbon analyzers
- Pasteur or transfer pipettes — Transfer pipettes
- Peristaltic pumps — Liquid transfer pumps
- Personal computers
- Pestle or mortars — Mortars and pestles
- pH meters — pH indicators
- Photoelectric sensors — Photocells
- Photometers — Flame photometers
- Pipette washers — Automatic buret cleaners; Automatic pipette cleaners
- Polarimeters — Automated polarimeters
- Polarizers
- Pressure indicators — Bourdon gauges; Pressure gauges
- Prisms
- Programmable tube furnaces — Graphite furnaces
- Protective gloves — Asbestos gloves; Safety gloves
- Pull spring balances
- Pycnometers
- Pyrometers — Optical pyrometers
- Radiation detectors
- Refrigerated baths — Cooling baths
- Refrigerated cooling modules — Refrigerated coolers
- Remote reading thermometers — Liquid-filled remote thermometers
- Respirators — Dust and particulate respirators
- Rheometers
- Robotic or automated liquid handling systems — Automatic burets
- Rotameters
- Safety glasses
- Scientific calculator — Graphing calculators
- Spectrofluorimeters or fluorimeters — Fluorimeters; Ultraviolet UV spectroscopes
- Spectrophotometer accessories — Deuterium lamps; Hollow cathode lamps
- Spectrophotometers
- Syringe pumps — Finger pumps
- Tensiometers — Tension gauges
- Thermal conductivity analyzers — Thermal conductivity detectors
- Thermocouples
- Thin layer chromatography tanks — Chromatography developing tanks
- Thinlayer chromatographs — Thinlayer chromatography analyzers
- Titration equipment — Autotitrators; Titrators
- Triple beam balances
- Turbidimeters
- Ultracentrifuges
- Ultraviolet UV lamps
- Vacuum desiccators — Drying pistols
- Vacuum gauges — Ionization gauges; McLeod gauges; Pirani gauges
- Vacuum or rotary evaporators — Evaporator rotators; Rotary evaporators
- Viscosimeters — Automated microviscometers; Viscosity meters
- Voltage or current meters — Voltmeters
- Volumetric pipettes — Volumetric glass pipettes
- Water baths — Constant temperature water baths
Knowledge Save Table (XLS/CSV)
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Knowledge |
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Skills Save Table (XLS/CSV)
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Skill |
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3 ![]() ![]() |
Abilities Save Table (XLS/CSV)
Work Activities Save Table (XLS/CSV)
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Work Activity |
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92 ![]() ![]() |
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89 ![]() ![]() |
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86 ![]() ![]() |
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Detailed Work Activities Save Table (XLS/CSV)
- Analyze chemical compounds or substances.
- Interpret research or operational data.
- Clean objects.
- Maintain laboratory or technical equipment.
- Set up laboratory or field equipment.
- Evaluate quality of materials or products.
- Prepare compounds or solutions for products or testing.
- Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations.
- Train personnel in technical or scientific procedures.
- Supervise scientific or technical personnel.
- Develop new or advanced products or production methods.
- Operate laboratory or field equipment.
- Manage scientific or technical project resources.
Find occupations related to multiple detailed work activities
Work Context Save Table (XLS/CSV)
Job Zone Save Table (XLS/CSV)
Title | Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed |
Education | Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. |
Related Experience | Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job. |
Job Training | Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations. |
Job Zone Examples | These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, travel guides, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters, and medical assistants. |
SVP Range | (6.0 to < 7.0) |
Education
Interests Save Table (XLS/CSV)
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Interest |
|
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83 ![]() ![]() |
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78 ![]() ![]() |
Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others. ![]() |
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50 ![]() ![]() |
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17 ![]() ![]() |
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6 ![]() ![]() |
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0 ![]() |
Work Styles Save Table (XLS/CSV)
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Work Style |
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86 ![]() ![]() |
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Related Occupations Save Table (XLS/CSV)
17-3025.00 | Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians ![]() |
17-3026.00 | Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians |
19-2031.00 | Chemists ![]() |
19-4012.00 | Agricultural Technicians |
19-4013.00 | Food Science Technicians |
19-4021.00 | Biological Technicians ![]() |
19-4043.00 | Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians ![]() |
19-4051.00 | Nuclear Technicians |
19-4051.02 | Nuclear Monitoring Technicians |
29-2012.00 | Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians ![]() |
Wages & Employment Trends
Median wages (2019) | $23.68 hourly, $49,260 annual |
State wages | |
Local wages | |
Employment (2019) | 68,100 employees |
Projected growth (2019-2029) | ![]() |
Projected job openings (2019-2029) | 6,300 |
State trends | |
Top industries (2019) | Manufacturing (48% employed in this sector)
|
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2019 wage data
and 2019-2029 employment projections
.
"Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2019-2029). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.
Sources of Additional Information
Disclaimer: Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries. Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.