Credentials & certification

ASTM D5436 certification

Every tube and rod sold by American Acrylic Works is certified to ASTM D5436-20 Type UVA, Finish 1 — the standard specification for cast acrylic tubes and rods. This covers material composition, optical clarity, dimensional tolerances, and surface quality.

ASTM D5436 matters for applications where material identity and quality must be documented — medical devices, laboratory equipment, food-processing systems, optical assemblies, and any project where a purchasing agent or quality engineer needs to qualify the source.

Certificate of conformance with every order

Every order ships with a certificate of conformance to ASTM D5436-20, referencing the specific cast batch your material came from — fully traceable to its cast run — together with a CFR 21 177.1010 food-contact declaration and traceability to the source monomer it was poured from.

This is not a generic spec sheet. Each certificate references the actual batch ID of the material in your order, connecting your specific tubes or rods to the cast run that produced them. If your QA team, customer, or regulatory body asks "where did this material come from and how do you know it meets spec?" — the certificate answers both questions.

What the certificate attests

• ASTM D5436-20 (Type UVA, Finish 1) — the cast acrylic sheet, rod, and tube standard. Every order ships with a Certificate of Conformance.
• CFR 21 177.1010 — food-contact compliance. Suitable for articles intended for use in contact with food, including beverage sight glasses, food-processing viewing columns, and dairy equipment.
• Batch traceability — each order references a specific cast batch ID (e.g. 26-001), traceable to pour date and run. Retained by the mill for at least 7 years.
• Source monomer traceability — Mitsubishi M-503 methyl methacrylate (formerly known as Lucite), a premium optical-grade monomer. CAS 1879-09-0 inhibitor at 8–12 ppm.
• Made in USA — cast at 321 Willow Grove Road, Pittsgrove, New Jersey. Visitors and audits welcome by appointment.

Not certified for

We would rather you know the limits up front than discover them at incoming inspection.

• MTR/CMTR for aerospace or defense qualification programs — contact us for program-specific arrangements.
• Third-party laboratory validation — available on request at additional cost. Our certification is manufacturer's certification.
• Per-batch analytical test reports — the chemistry specs on our cert describe the source monomer's guaranteed limits, not measurements taken on your batch.

Why traceability matters

When you buy acrylic through a general-purpose distributor, you typically don't know who manufactured it, what standard it was produced to, or which production run it came from. If a quality issue surfaces downstream, there's no trail to follow.

When you buy from American Acrylic Works, you know exactly where your material was made (our own mill in Pittsgrove, NJ), what standard it conforms to (ASTM D5436), and which cast batch it came from (referenced on your certificate). That's the difference between commodity material and a qualified source.

The mill

American Acrylic Works has been cell-casting acrylic in Pittsgrove, New Jersey since 1954.

The mill produces cast acrylic tubes and rods by pouring liquid MMA monomer into precision molds and curing it slowly at controlled temperatures. This cell-cast process produces acrylic with high molecular weight, exceptional optical clarity (92% light transmission), and superior chemical resistance compared to extruded alternatives.

For seven decades, our mill has supplied manufacturers of medical and dialysis equipment, museum and display fabricators, lighting OEMs, and precision machining shops — industries where material quality, optical clarity, and documented certification are requirements, not nice-to-haves.

Cast acrylic — not extruded

All material we sell is cell-cast, not extruded. Cast acrylic has:

• Higher molecular weight — better chemical and crazing resistance
• Superior machinability — clean cuts, no gumming on the lathe
• Tighter dimensional tolerances — set by the mold, not die variation
• Stronger solvent bonds — critical for fabricated assemblies

For a detailed comparison, see our cast vs extruded acrylic guide.

Applications

Our certified, traceable cast acrylic serves applications where material provenance and quality documentation are essential:

• Medical and dialysis equipment — components requiring FDA food-contact compliance and traceable material certification
• Laboratory and scientific — sight gauges, flow cells, reactor vessels, and process piping where chemical resistance and optical clarity are specified
• Lighting and optical — diffusers, lenses, light guides where 92% light transmission and UV stability matter
• Display and museum fabrication — cases, barriers, and enclosures where optical quality is judged visually
• Precision fabrication — machined parts, solvent-bonded assemblies, and components where dimensional consistency and clean cuts are required

Material specifications

Certification	ASTM D5436-20 Type UVA, Finish 1
Food contact	CFR 21 177.1010 compliant
Source monomer	Mitsubishi M-503 MMA (formerly Lucite)
Material	Cell-cast acrylic (PMMA)
Light transmission	92%
Density	1.19 g/cm³ (0.043 lb/in³)
Tensile strength	10,000 psi (69 MPa)
Max continuous service temp	180°F (82°C)
UV resistance	Inherent — no yellowing
FDA food-contact	Compliant
Cast at	American Acrylic Works · Pittsgrove, NJ · est. 1954

For full dimensional tolerances and additional material properties, see our tolerances & specs guide.

Talk to the mill

When you contact American Acrylic Works, you're talking to people connected to the mill — not a call center or a general-purpose distributor. If you have spec questions, need a custom size, or want to discuss material suitability for your application, we can help.

Email: sales@americanacrylicworks.com
Location: Pittsgrove, NJ, USA

See the certification page for how the cert flows with your order → /certified-cast-acrylic/