text: Stability is among the essential properties of a CRM (see definitions above), and stability assessment is accordingly required for certified reference materials. Stability under long term storage and also under conditions of transport are both expected to be assessed. "Assessment" is not synonymous with "testing"; some materials - for example, many minerals and metal alloys - may be so stable that experimental tests are not considered necessary. Other reference materials will usually undergo experimental tests of stability at some point prior to the material being distributed for sale. 
  Where reference materials are certified for more than one property, stability is expected to be demonstrated for every certified property.
  There are two important strategies for CRM stability testing; simple real-time studies and accelerated testing. Real-time studies simply keep units of the material at their planned storage temperature for a suitable period of time and observe the material at intervals. Accelerated studies use a range of more stringent conditions, most commonly increased temperature, to test whether the material is likely to be stable over longer time scales.